


Frost: Ahtohallan's Peril

by Spectacular_Sunset



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Epic Battles, Gen, Might get a little dark, Post-Canon, Spirits, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22891816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectacular_Sunset/pseuds/Spectacular_Sunset
Summary: Anna and Kristoff just want to enjoy life with their teenage daughter. Too bad Hans Westergaard has other ideas -- will they live to tell the tale? Set 20 years after Frozen 2.
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

He stood in the shadows to one side, letting the rage boil within him. He had always buried his emotions within him, and came to relish it, as it inflamed his passion and emotions, allowing him to sway his audiences – and this audience was very important indeed.

They called themselves the Illuminati.

Five influential men, rulers of various kingdoms around the world, normally bitter enemies, yet temporarily unified by one common cause, or rather, person: Queen Elsa of Arendelle.

After escaping his home country, he travelled the world, from village to village, from town to town, spreading the word about the accursed nation Arendelle, ruled by a queen with a witch for a sister. In his teenage years, he developed a natural talent for deception and eloquence, and eventually he gained a following, increasing slowly but steadily.

But this… tonight could change everything. After 20 years of excruciating punishment, everything he’d worked for would finally come to fruit. He’d be able to get revenge on the two sisters, who turned his already miserable life into a living hell.

Prince Hans Westergaard of the Southern Isles strode out of the shadows. The past decade had weathered him immensely, his formerly handsome features marred by scars caused by intensive physical labour. His hair, once golden red, became an unflattering shade of dark brown. Unkempt and haggard, he was truly a shadow of his past self.

‘Thank you for agreeing to meet with me today,’ he said, his face a mask of lightheartedness. Secretly, he resented all of them. They reminded him of his father and brothers, all pompous and entitled, thinking they were better than everyone else.

‘Of course,’ one of them replied. ‘Letting a kingdom ruled by a sorcerer sit unchecked, right next to our borders? Absolutely unacceptable!’

‘Although leadership has been transferred, the elder sister is still an immense threat,’ another mused. ‘Sources say she has gained even more power, as well as an alliance with the Northuldra. You dealt with them before in your youth, and while it was a failure, it was… commendable. I do not know what your plans are, but we will provide for everything you may need.’ The others nodded assent.

Hans smiled cruelly. Everything was going according to plan…

Ch.1 (Six Months Later)

‘I’m awake!’ Lilliana Frost, royal princess of Arendelle, responded hastily to the knocking at her door. Like her mother, she often had serious cases of bedhead, so it took _ages_ to get her hair right in the morning. With flaming red hair, large blue eyes, a slim figure, as well as a kind heart, she was the spitting image of her mother – and very popular with the villagers, especially the young men.

She already knew who was outside: Alec, the royal tutor, would meet her for her lessons every day. ‘Time for another day of higher learning,’ she muttered.

She often thought these lessons were pointless. At her age, her mother, Queen Anna, had conquered the Northern Mountains to save the kingdom from an eternal winter, and proceeded to save Arendelle again three years afterward. She wanted to be an adventurer like her, to prove that she wasn’t just a girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth, to rise up and become greater; certainly, being cooped up in her room, learning about mundane subjects like history and diplomacy wasn’t going to do that!

When she gazed outside her window, she could see the great Arenfjord in all its glory, the water glistening in the sunlight. Legend had it the ice wall her aunt Elsa made to block a tidal wave twenty years ago was still intact at the bottom somewhere, but there was no way she’d see it from the castle. Over at the harbor, the Arendellian docks was a bustle of activity, with fishermen and traders going about their daily routines. And when she looked in the other direction, she could see the treacherous Northern Mountains her parents once conquered, with its misty, snow-covered peaks, and she noticed the blurry outline of Elsa’s ice palace (or as she jokingly called it, their summer home) somewhere in the gloom. To top it all off, the sky was a clear, cloudless blue, creating the perfect canvas.

It was times like these that made Lilliana love her home even more. On a day like this, who’d want to stay indoors? She thought.

She grinned to herself. On a sudden impulse, she decided that today was going to be different. With a whoop of delight, she opened it and leapt into the unknown!

She plummeted like a comet flying across the sky, seemingly to certain death… and with one fluid maneuver, slowed her fall and landed softly on the courtyard.

From her birth, Lilliana Frost was special in ways the populace of Arendelle had only witnessed once before. With telekinetic powers, (also mind reading – she never told her parents _that_ ) she was often compared to the legendary Queen Elsa, further aggravating her hopes for something _more_.

Slightly disoriented from the landing, she walked three steps, colliding straight into a familiar figure in military uniform.

‘Good morning, Princess Lilliana,’ Magnus, newly appointed general of Arendelle, greeted her with a smile. It didn’t reach his eyes though; they were cold and foreboding, like a pool of black ink. ‘What are you doing outside the castle again?’

Lilliana groaned. Ever since General Mattias had retired due to old age, Magnus had taken his place. Originally a traveler, he decided to move from Corona to settle there and joined the army. In the space of 5 years, he rose through the ranks to become the youngest ever general of Arendelle. A large, intimidating figure, Lilliana once compared him to an oversized raven, which wasn’t far from the truth. His hair was long and dark, while his black eyes showed intelligence and animal cunning. He even had a huge scar right underneath his left eye, adding to his mystery. At least, that’s what she thought when she was younger; now she just felt creeped out.

His responsibilities were, but not limited to, protecting the town, keeping an eye on the border -- and making sure Lilliana wasn’t fooling around with her powers.

‘Maybe we can, I don’t know, let it slide?’ Lilliana flashed her friendliest smile at the Coronan, hoping against hope that he’d let her off the hook. She didn’t even bother to read his mind.

He never did.

A few minutes later, she was facing her mother in the village. Queen Anna liked to visit the village at least once a week, a habit she had ever since the castle gates were reopened all those years ago. ‘Lilliana! What are you doing here?’ Anna frowned. She already had a vague idea what the problem was.

Magnus replied with a satisfied smirk. ‘The princess has been, ah, _playing_ again.’ That was all Anna needed. ‘How many times have I told you to stop doing something like this?’ This was an issue with them that popped up once in a while. Anna wanted her to use her powers responsibly. Kind and gentle, she rarely snapped at people; Lilliana knew she was in hot water now.


	2. Chapter 2

A furious Anna led Lilliana into the Great Hall, where her husband Kristoff was waiting. As they walked past the portrait gallery, Lilliana nodded awkwardly at all the new faces in blue uniform she passed by.

Wait. New faces?

Before she could dwell on it, they arrived at the Great Hall.

‘What’s the matter?’ He asked. Seeing the look on his wife’s face, he sighed and said, ‘Have you been tinkering with your powers again?’

‘To be fair, I didn’t flatten anyone this time,’ she looked at the floor, deliberately avoiding eye contact.

‘Tuva had to stay in the medical ward for a whole month!’ Anna said madly. ‘Look, I don’t mind you using your powers, but you have to use them responsibly! You know, like the time you helped fix Wael’s chimney, or clear out the snow in the farmlands!’

Lilliana sighed. If only her godfather Olaf were here. He’d definitely be on her side! Too bad he was in Ahtohallan visiting Marshmallow and the Snowgies…

‘What’s the point of having superpowers if you can’t have some fun with them? You did some crazy things back in your day too! I mean, you tried to marry a man you just met, indirectly caused an eternal winter, and he turned out to be an irredeemable monster who wouldn’t even kiss you! At least, I think that’s what Olaf meant. I had to piece a lot of stuff together… the point is, I don’t want to be stuck in a boring castle all day! I want to be like you, or aunt Elsa!’ Lilliana retorted, her face reddened with emotion.

Kristoff never liked seeing those two in conflict. Sadly, it seemed to be happening with increasing frequency these days. The fact was, none of them knew what to do with Lilliana. Sometimes, it was all too easy for them to forget that, underneath her extraordinary lineage and abilities, she was just a normal teenage girl. Anna, being isolated from pretty much the entire world during her adolescence, didn’t really go through puberty the way other girls might.

Kristoff was even worse, having been a mountain man his whole life. His troll family in the Mountain of the Living Rock, the so-called ‘love experts’, fed him so much misinformation about girls as a child, he was inclined to take their opinions with a grain of salt.

Other people couldn’t exactly help him either. He couldn’t exactly walk up to a random villager and say, ‘Hey, you’re a father too, aren’t you? Do you know how to deal with rebellious teenagers with powers?’ The crux of the matter was, their situation was far too unique – they had to figure everything out on their own. Still, he couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle at the mention of Hans and Olaf’s storytelling skills, which earned him a withering glare from Anna.

‘The kingdom was in danger! I didn’t have a choice in the matter, and nearly got killed multiple times! These days are totally different, Lilliana!’ Anna said. ‘Oh, and don’t you dare mention _him_ in this house. Hopefully, he’s still rotting in the Southern Isles somewhere, serving out his punishment.’

As Lilliana continued to argue, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander off. _Man, has Magnus been training new guards in bulk? Almost all of them look new._

_And… why does it take so many just to guard the Great Hall?_

She tentatively reached out with her mind, like an outstretched hand. She mildly disliked this aspect of her abilities. She felt it was intruding, infringing upon people’s privacy and she rarely used it.

What Lilliana heard, however, chilled her to the bone.

‘Get down!’ she screamed, using her powers to push her parents down to the ground. A fraction of a second later, a crossbow bolt, like a whisper of death, whizzed past the space where her shoulder had been.

‘Umm, Mother?’ she breathed heavily. ‘Let’s continue this another time, shall we? We really need to go. Now.’

Anna seemed to notice her surroundings for the first time. Gone was the motherly, enthusiastic figure Lilliana had known all her life. This was Queen Anna, cold and regal. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ she asked, raising her voice.

The soldiers, swords and spears raised, moved aside to allow a broad, dark figure through.

‘Apologies, _Queen_ Anna,’ Magnus, captain of the guard, smiled coldly. ‘You will come with us or die – in the name of the Illuminati.’


	3. Chapter 3

Kristoff stood protectively in front of Anna and Lilliana. ‘Look, guys, why don’t we talk about this like civilized people? Besides, Illumi-what again?’

Magnus drawled, ‘I’m afraid their orders were rather specific: Bring the royal family of Arendelle, dead or alive. To be honest, it was easier than I thought. I’ve been replacing your guards with my own men for the past few months, a few at a time under your noses, and you didn’t even notice!’

While he was rambling away, Anna winked at Lilliana, pointed subtly to the ground, and mouthed ‘ice room’. She understood immediately. Making a thrusting gesture with her hands, she used her telekinesis to punch a hole straight through the wooden floor of the Great Hall, and the three made a perfect landing in the ice room a floor below.

‘Three flagstones in, two across…’ ‘Are you sure babe? I thought it was the other way around…’ While Anna and Kristoff kept pressing the stone wall like madmen for no apparent reason to Lilliana, she worked on making another hole in the ice room floor. _Whoever tries to follow us by jumping is going to have a nasty surprise,_ she thought with a hint of satisfaction.

Right on cue, an unfortunate mercenary jumped right into the void – only to realize the drop was a _lot_ farther than expected. Judging by the painful screams he made, the man wouldn’t be pursuing them any time soon.

‘Got it!’ Anna exclaimed, and the flagstone lifted away, revealing a stone staircase leading into pitch black darkness. ‘Lilliana, you first!’ After Lilliana went through, she wasted no time rushing down the steps. Kristoff pulled the flagstone down immediately, sealing them off from their pursuers. They were safe – for now.

Meanwhile, as the mercenaries one floor above prepared to give chase, Magnus raised a hand. ‘No need for that now. Let them run. They’ll play right into our hands anyway.’

Kristoff struck a match and lit up the lantern placed near the entrance, its flashing light chasing away the darkness. Ever since their first visit here twenty years ago, they decided to put a lantern and other supplies there in case of emergencies, and it really paid off.

‘I hope Kai and Gerda and the rest of the castle staff are safe,’ Anna said worriedly.

Kristoff reassured her. ‘Don’t worry. Most likely, they’ll be kept in the dungeons or something. They won’t be harmed.’ Anna nodded thoughtfully, turning towards Lilliana.

‘Great job back there, Lilliana,’ Anna beamed at her daughter, their disagreements temporarily forgotten.

‘You encouraging me to use my powers is a rare occasion,’ Lilliana grinned back. ‘I’ve got to get my licks in whenever I can.’

They walked onward aimlessly in silence when Kristoff spoke up.

‘Guys! We need a plan. This tunnel is only going to run as far as the waterfall. We can’t hide out here forever. So, uh… anyone got any suggestions?’

Lilliana smirked. ‘Don’t look at me. According to Olaf, you two used to face mortal danger daily, or something. That was the only thing I could understand.’ Making me feel even more incapable, she thought.

Anna whispered to Kristoff, ‘I don’t think Olaf should be allowed to tell her stories.’

She then pulled them in for a group hug and said, ‘Alright. We’ll sneak into the village, buy some horses and supplies, and ride like the wind to the Enchanted Forest. Once we find my sister, she should be able to help somehow.’

Kristoff frowned. ‘But what if we run into one of his henchmen? We can’t really trust anyone, can we?’

Anna replied, ‘We’ll have to risk it. We’ve known these people all our lives; I believe in them not to betray us.’ Lilliana nodded in agreement. ‘I can read their minds to see if they’re trustworthy.’

Anna looked at Lilliana pointedly and deadpanned, ‘You mean the mind-reading powers you didn’t tell us about for years? At least I know why you’re so good at charades now.’

She just shrugged indifferently. Truth be told, she really tried not to cheat, but it was hard to block her partners out when they were literally screaming the answer in their minds, so eventually she didn’t bother. She could even tell what Elsa was portraying, for goodness sake. In her eyes, that was a clear sign of cheating already.

Charades was definitely Lilliana Frost’s least favorite game night activity.

‘Alright, you two,’ Kristoff said wearily. ‘We’ve got to get the supplies we need, escape the Arendellian border, and do all that without being noticed. I don’t think I’m comfortable with that.’

‘Looks like it’s time for stealth mode then honey,’ Anna kissed her husband on the cheek. ‘It’ll be just like old times!’

They were at their worst, and things were at their most bleak, but at that moment Lilliana had never seen Anna and Kristoff so invigorated, and that sight filled her to the brim with hope.

As they started along the dark, musty path, Anna cut in with her characteristic optimism, ‘At least Elsa’s doing fine.’


	4. Chapter 4

Elsa was most certainly NOT fine – she just didn’t realize it yet.

Over the last few decades, she gradually adapted to the Northuldran culture and way of life, visiting Arendelle at least once a week to accompany her beloved sister. While she missed it every day, the Enchanted Forest was, apart from Ahtohallan, the one place where she felt complete, where she could be one with nature.

Her musings were interrupted by Bruni, a tiny, adorable salamander whose mission was to be as cute as possible. It clambered up onto her palm, sticking out its tongue lazily.

‘Yes,’ she smiled. ‘Yes, I’m coming!’ After making a flurry for Bruni, she stepped out of her tent.

The years did nothing to diminish her otherworldly beauty. In fact, she didn’t look a day past 24 – one of the perks of being a nature spirit. With flowing platinum-blonde hair, a regal snow-white gown and perfect, flawless facial features, she seemed more like a goddess, or an immortal sorceress of old, rather than a middle-aged former queen, to Northuldrans and Arendellians alike. Even now, after all this time, many people were secretly in awe of her.

It was time for the annual harvest festival. The People of the Sun would take part in a sumptuous feast to celebrate the year’s gatherings and express their blessings for a great year to come.

‘Hey Elsa, over here!’ Ryder and Honeymaren, her best friends in the tribe, gestured to an empty seat next to them. Elsa walked over with a smile, greeting people she recognized along the way.

The celebrations were held in a large clearing right in the centre of the forest. Thanks to Elsa’s earth magic, unused wood and stones around the forest rearranged their configurations into chairs and tables to suit her needs. Food was served on a giant oak table ten meters long, like a buffet, with food like turkey, haddock and pies. There were even desserts like chocolate and pastries. Children, who rarely got to enjoy such treats, naturally took full advantage, taking as much as they could when they weren’t frolicking about. In the spirit of fun, the adults also held several competitions like spear-throwing and bonfire building. (Elsa was banned from the latter because Bruni simply couldn’t resist ‘helping’ her. They also stopped holding singalongs in the competitive format after you-know-who won for the fifth year in a row.)

It was the one day of the year when the serene, quiet forest became vibrant and lively, and Elsa loved it.

‘Isn’t this amazing?’ Ryder asked her excitedly. ‘Yelena says the harvest is twice as large this year, so the whole tribe is going to celebrate all day and night! There’s going to be contests, barbecues, singalongs… Wow!’

Elsa replied, ‘Yes! We have something similar back in Arendelle too! Ever since we reopened the gates, and Kristoff became ice master, he would organize a musical at the community theater every New Year, and the townspeople would all take part to ring in the season.’

Honeymaren deadpanned, ‘Well, we all know how Elsa can hit those high notes.’ She grinned mischievously. ‘Especially at three in the morning.’

Ryder added, ‘I remember one time I heard her sing right before moonfall. I couldn’t sleep for ages after that!’ He pretended to glare at her disapprovingly.

Elsa blushed sheepishly. What they said was true. In fact, occasionally she would hear Ahtohallan sing to her, and she’d sing back, responding to the call of nature – unfortunately, this tended to occur during morning hours, when everyone was supposed to be asleep. (The first time she sung with The Voice all those years ago in Arendelle, she woke up the entire town. These cases were no exception.)

‘I can’t help it if I get attuned to nature,’ she said indignantly. ‘Although I am sorry for waking you guys up… Ooh, chocolate.’ Her nose perked up as she spoke.

Honeymaren, in an effort to stop Elsa from eating all the chocolate, said suddenly, ‘Hey, look! They’ve got a singalong in the front! Let’s go!’

Suddenly, Elsa heard a cracking noise that sounded suspiciously like a tree branch snapping. But when she gazed into the distance, she saw nothing but blades of grass and flowers swaying in the wind, as well as rows and rows of trees, but nothing out of the ordinary.

‘Ryder! Honeymaren! Did you hear that?’ Elsa called out.

‘Elsa!’ Honeymaren laughed. ‘You’ve been here for two decades. Don’t tell me you’re spooked by a branch snapping!’

‘Yeah, it was probably just a small animal, like a squirrel or something. The reindeer are all out in the woods, maybe it was them?’ Ryder suggested.

‘Maybe,’ Elsa said absentmindedly. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that it felt… _unnatural_ somehow. Sinister. She mentally reminded herself to check later. ‘Alright. Come on!’

Right outside the border of the Enchanted Forest, where the four pillars of Earth, Water, Air and Fire stood tall, hundreds of soldiers lied in wait, their blades and armor gleaming in the sunlight. Further behind was the commander’s tent, where a certain Prince of the Southern Isles paced around impatiently, like a caged tiger.

‘If those blasted scouts don’t come back in five minutes,’ he muttered angrily, ‘I will –‘

As if by command, two men in light travelling gear entered the tent, breathing heavily. ‘Per – permission to report, my lord,’ one of them stuttered.

Hans smiled to himself. He loved it when his subordinates showed fear and respect toward him. It made him think of the good old days when he was in charge of Arendelle in Anna’s absence and the locals were completely fooled by his jovial, caring façade, a time long since past. ‘Speak,’ he ordered.

‘The tribespeople are all concentrated near the center of the forest, as you said, my lord.’ The other one added. ‘The entire village appears to be completely undefended.’

Hans chuckled humorlessly. ‘So it turns out the information by my elusive comrades was correct… the exact date of the one day when the forest is unguarded! You two, spread the word. I want fifty of my best troops to follow my lead. Go!’ The two men scurried away to do his bidding.

Facing his squad of elite troopers a few minutes later, Hans said confidently, ‘Alright, men. This will be a stealth mission, so no armor! We’ll split up into four groups and approach the central clearing from different directions. Once we’re there, everyone grab a hostage. Whoever makes a sound… will answer to me.’ He glared at them to drive the message across. ‘Understood?’

‘Yes, my lord!’ They saluted as one, their knuckles touching their foreheads.

‘Excellent,’ he smiled evilly. ‘They’ll never know what hit them.’


	5. Chapter 5

‘Let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore…’

Elsa smiled. Ever since she told them about the ice palace she built and the song she sung, they would sing it incessantly to annoy her sometimes. She didn’t mind it… much.

Suddenly, some flaming red leaves hovered over to her, along with a pleasant breeze. She recognized it as Gale, the air spirit. Its leaves kept on blowing around her in circles – he was obviously agitated. But by what?

‘Calm down, Gale!’ She said gently. ‘I can’t hear you if –‘

She couldn’t hear what she said next; her eardrums exploded with the blaring blast of a bugle horn. Disoriented and overwhelmed, she knelt to the ground. Reaching the centre of the forest, Hans’ troops abandoned their attempts at stealth, and sounded the assault. In a flash, armed men burst out of the trees from several directions as though by magic, holding the Northuldrans at swordpoint.

As Elsa rose to her feet, trying to analyze the situation, her thoughts were, yet again, interrupted by a clapping sound. When she looked towards that direction, her heart was filled with dread as her eyes locked onto a figure she never thought she’d see again. Old memories floated back to the surface, none of them good.

‘Elsa, Northuldran?’ Hans cackled sardonically. ‘You don’t exactly look the part, do you? Got tired of being queen? Decided to hand things off to your incompetent sister and retire to the wilderness? I pity those poor Arendellians.’

Elsa ignored his verbal jabs, choosing instead to search for a way out. No matter how much she racked her brain, she just couldn’t find a solution. She knew perfectly well she was powerful enough to incapacitate all of them with no real issues; but at what cost?

Her hopes were further dashed by the sound of more soldiers marching in. No there was really only one course open to her: surrender.

‘Gale, get away and tell the other spirits to lie low,’ she muttered under her breath. She could tell they were seething mad and aching for a fight, but she simply couldn’t risk it. Then, she rose to her full height and said in an authoritative tone, ‘You can have me, you monster. Now let them go!’

She loathed using her powers to hurt others. She hated hurting people in general really; but at that moment, there was nothing more she wanted than to put an ice dart in between Hans’ eyes. Her hands unconsciously tugged at her fingers as though removing invisible gloves, a gesture she did whenever she was nervous or angry.

‘Let them go? Oh, I don’t think so,’ Hans said, his features curled up in a cold smile. ‘It is wise to ask, but less so to demand. Come closer.’

As Elsa obliged, Hans backhanded Elsa hard enough to knock her to the ground. The Northuldrans gasped with horror and disgust.

‘That hurt, didn’t it?’ Hans asked, his eyes burning with manic fire. He grabbed Elsa by the face, his hands shuddering with anger and tension. ‘That’s only a mere fraction of the pain I’ve had to endure every day for the past two decades! And it’s all because of you and your damn sister.’

‘You – you brought it upon yourself,’ Elsa replied weakly, fending him off with an ice blast that sent him reeling three steps back. She was still winded, not just from the blow, but the fact that he actually struck her. While he had tried to kill the two sisters, he had never really engaged in any physical violence; yes, he attempted to kill her with his sword, but she had her back to him the entire time. The psychological effect, as well as physical, completely knocked her off balance.

Hans was raging mad. He wanted to retaliate, but thought better of it when he saw a pair of glowing eyes in the nearby river. As he blinked, the image disappeared. Probably just a trick of the light, he thought disconcertedly, but decided not to follow up.

‘Take them away!’ he shouted. Seeing he was in a foul mood, his retinue rushed to obey his orders. Metal gauntlets with chains were placed around Elsa’s hands to prevent her from using her abilities. She wasn’t worried at first. After all, she’d broken out of these before, and she was way more powerful now. But when she tried to burst out of them with her ice powers, she realized they were perfectly contained, and the shackles didn’t even budge.

Her distressed look must have been obvious, as Hans said, ‘Don’t bother. That’s made specifically for you, with the hardest metal on Earth! You see, I actually learn from my mistakes. I’d make a good ruler, unlike you, who had it all, something most people would kill to have – and threw it all away.’ He looked upward to glare at his troops. ‘Now GET THEM OUT OF MY SIGHT!’

Elsa just looked at Hans. ‘You toyed with my sister’s feelings for your own benefit. You tried to kill two innocent girls for power. You’ll never be a good ruler – because you’re incapable of love or compassion.’

Hans ignored her, allowing his subordinates to take her away. The tribe would be taken to a stronghold near the border between the Enchanted Forest and Northuldra – with the vast resources of the Illuminati at his disposal, building it was child’s play. The Northuldran king was well-aware of it… for obvious reasons.

Hans whispered under his breath, ‘And you’ll be its next honored guest, _Queen_ Anna. I can’t _wait_ to catch up with you!’

Even while Elsa was being forced off, she couldn’t help but think of her beloved sister. ‘At least Anna’s safe,’ she muttered, unconsciously echoing the words of Anna hundreds of miles to the south.


	6. Chapter 6

Anna poked her head out of the tunnel. ‘All clear,’ she grinned.

Lilliana made a contented ‘ahh’ sound, stretching her arms and legs. ‘Never thought I’d see the light again!’ she said. ‘Thank Frigg for that!’

Kristoff grunted. ‘I still don’t think this is a good idea. If only Sven were here, we could be up and running in minutes…’

Anna caressed his hand gently to comfort him. Even till now, Kristoff still didn’t really get over the death of his childhood reindeer friend Sven, which happened about 15 years ago.

‘I’m fine,’ Kristoff smiled at his wife. ‘Let’s go find Oaken.’

They found Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna right where it was supposed to be, in the corner of the village. The trio avoided crowded areas whenever possible, and thanks to Lilliana’s mind-reading skills, not one person crossed their path when they arrived.

With great pleasure, Anna noticed that there were a few strong-looking brown mares in Oaken’s stables. Ever since the tensions between Arendelle and Northuldra subsided under Anna’s rule, there was a huge demand for horses and pack ponies so traders could cross the border frequently, so Oaken, ever the businessman, decided to go into business as a horse breeder. He mentioned during her last visit that it was quite lucrative.

‘So long as he doesn’t rip me off again,’ Kristoff grumbled, remembering his first encounter with Anna with perfect clarity. ‘It seems like as we get older, his prices just get higher!’

‘Let’s go in already, slowpokes!’ Lilliana pranced in the door and was immediately greeted by two people.

‘Yoohoo!’ Oaken called out cheerily. ‘Big summer blowout!’

‘Good morning, Princess,’ the local journalist, Wael waved at her, a bottle of sun balm in his hand (of Oaken’s own invention of course). ‘What brings you here?’

Lilliana couldn’t help but purse her lips at the sight of Wael. As the writer of Arendelle’s newspaper _The Village Crown_ , he would often ask Anna awkward questions that were demanding and to-the-point, which in Lilliana’s eyes, made her mother’s life harder. On the contrary, Anna was secretly grateful to him for making her a more accountable, confident ruler, and she trusted Lilliana to understand in time.

They seemed harmless enough, but just in case… Lilliana took a peek inside their minds. Seeing they weren’t hostile and brimming with curiosity, Lilliana motioned for her parents to cut to the chase.

‘Oaken, we need two of your best horses and some food please,’ Kristoff said. ‘I’ll give you five hundred for them; we really don’t have much more.’

Oaken was a businessman, but he wasn’t heartless and he believed in fair trade. He knew they could simply order him to give them the horses and he’d have to comply. Besides, he was quite fond of the royal family and he wanted to help them. ‘Four hundred. I’ll even throw in some oats for the horses!’ He said firmly.

‘Thank you so much!’ Anna cried gratefully. ‘And Wael, can you do me a favor? The palace guard has taken over the castle, and we’re going to summon help. I need you to spread the word to the villagers, alright? The soldiers are not to be trusted. Be careful!’

Wael nodded gravely. ‘Of course, Your Majesty. I will get to it immediately!’ The old man walked out as fast as his legs could carry him.

Lilliana was impressed by her mother. If it were up to her, she would’ve just bought the supplies and left, neglecting the innocent townspeople in her haste and panic. _I need to do better than this_ , she thought.

For the next few days, they set off for the Enchanted Forest, riding past snow-capped mountains, treacherous cliff sides and plains that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Without Olaf to provide jokes and entertainment, Lilliana felt bored and restless, anxious to reach their destination.

Anna kept whistling, making shrill noises throughout the journey. Although Lilliana didn’t know the purpose (her mind-reading powers were significantly weakened against people who were on guard), she could still tell Anna was anxious and worried about something. The night before they reached the forest, Lilliana was just about to fall asleep when she heard her parents whispering, and she was instantly wide awake.

‘I’m worried about Elsa, Kristoff,’ Anna’s voice quivered with fear. ‘I’ve been calling for Gale this entire time, yet he never came. I’m afraid… I’m afraid something happened to my sister.’

Kristoff pulled her in close, comforting her. ‘I’m sure Elsa is safe. She can certainly take care of herself, what with her powers and all.

‘I’m just glad Lilliana’s coping with all this remarkably well, don’t you think?’ he raised his arms above his head to make his point, successfully changing the topic.

‘She is,’ Anna smiled at her daughter affectionately. ‘She’ll do great things someday, I’m sure of it! Now let’s go to sleep honey. We’ve got an early day tomorrow.’


	7. Chapter 7

Ch.7

The next day, they finally arrived. Lilliana couldn’t really sleep last night as she kept mulling over Anna and Kristoff’s conversation.

They’re actually proud of me, she thought, even though I’ve done pretty much nothing to help. That was untrue. Her contributions were invaluable—it was mainly her lack of confidence that led her to think otherwise.

‘—Lilliana!’ Kristoff’s voice snapped her back to reality. ‘We’re here.’

‘Something’s off.’ Anna frowned. ‘It shouldn’t be this… quiet.’

Their last visit to the forest was a few years back. After all, they couldn’t leave the kingdom unattended for so long, and the round-trip alone took at least ten days. However, every time Anna came by, there were always some strolling Earth Giants or Northuldrans near the border to greet them. Even at its quietest, there was still the chirping of birds, the melodic blowing of the wind, the rustling of leaves; but now, there was nothing but an eerie silence. 

Lilliana gulped nervously. ‘That’s some warm welcome.’

Anna steeled herself for what lay ahead. She had to stay strong, or they were all done for. ‘It’s fine,’ she forced a smile. ‘Maybe Elsa’s playing a trick on us. We haven’t been here for quite a while.’

Kristoff nodded in pretend agreement. Like Anna, he knew something was off, but didn’t let it show. ‘We can’t go back now.’

They kept going forward, calling Gale and Elsa’s names as they went; there was no reply but the sound of their own echoes. Lilliana extended her mind-reading powers in front of her, yet strangely enough she sensed nothing at all. All she could hear was Anna’s cries for her sister, and Kristoff’s anxious, heavy breathing.

All of a sudden, a female voice, clear as day, sounded in her mind: Help.

‘Dad, Mum, follow me now!’ Lilliana changed direction, forcing her way through the thick vegetation, and her parents scrambled in pursuit.

‘Help! Is there anyone?’ As Lilliana popped out of the undergrowth, she saw a familiar forest woman dressed in a sheep’s wool dress and leather shout out. She was obviously tattered and distressed, 

The woman caught sight of the trio. ‘Anna? Kristoff? Is that you? Pl-Please, you have to come help!’ Tears started flowing down her face.

‘Honeymaren? What happened?’ They rushed over. ‘Where’s my sister?’ Anna asked anxiously.

‘A-a sinkhole opened up during our harvest festival,’ she replied, her voice cracking. She looked downwards the entire time. ‘Almost all of them are in there, please help!’ She suddenly stood up and ran towards the central clearing. The trio raced after her.

Lilliana couldn’t help but feel skeptical. True, she lived in a world where magic existed and pretty much anything could happen. Heck, she and her aunt had special abilities themselves—but a sinkhole? What was Elsa’s earth magic for, making chairs? Lilliana wanted to look inside Honeymaren’s brain, but hesitated. She still wasn’t accustomed to the idea of invading people’s thoughts, and this was one of Elsa’s best friends, so she refrained from doing so.

She became more and more tense as they went through; it wasn’t just her own emotions; it was as if… as if the air itself was waiting for something bad to occur.

They emerged into the clearing… and found a squadron of armored soldiers, around twenty of them, bows at the ready in case they tried to escape.

Honeymaren finally couldn’t stand it anymore, bursting into tears. ‘I’m sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘They said they’d kill everyone else if I didn’t do what they said.’ 

Lilliana muttered a very unladylike curse under her breath. She should’ve read Honeymaren’s mind while she had the chance. Now they were facing the exact same situation, but there was no floor she could break through this time round. And did they have to wear armor? She didn’t bother using her powers; she knew they wouldn’t do a thing.

The troops moved aside to reveal an ironclad man with messy dark brown hair and scars all over his face. At the sight of him, Anna’s eyes widened with terror and started hyperventilating, as though she was in shock. It had been more than twenty long years, but she would never forget that face, that horrible face which she was once so captivated by; that terrible beast, that unredeemable monster whom she thought was gone for good. ‘I-I-It’s him,’ she stammered.

Even Kristoff could only stare gob smacked at the former Prince of the Southern Isles. He tried to comfort Anna, but no words came.

Hans cackled maniacally. ‘Hello, old friends! I see you even brought your lovely daughter. While I’d love to catch up over a good meal, I’m afraid two decades of slavery can make a person less… accommodating.’

Anna asked incredulously, ‘How did you escape the Southern Isles? You should be rotting in a dungeon right now!’ ‘You know, for double attempted murder,’ Kristoff added.

Hans smirked. ‘Some benevolent benefactors sprung me out… but you don’t need to know all the details. Especially not you, mind-reader.’ He looked at Lilliana, tapping his metal helmet playfully. ‘Every Arendellian knows about that little incident of yours; it was child’s play for my spies to find out how to shut you down. Now you three are coming with me. My colleagues have got great plans for you!’

‘Must be that Illuminati Magnus was talking about,’ Kristoff muttered.

Lilliana ignored him, for a voice suddenly appeared in her mind: Hold on! We’re going to get you out of here. In the corner of her eye, she saw some leaves floating on the breeze, along with… a salamander? It was too far to be sure.

Lilliana whispered, ‘Mom, about Gale… he’s right here and I think he just spoke in my mind? Anyway, he says he can get us out of here.’ Anna responded with an imperceptible nod. ‘It doesn’t matter. We- we beat you before, and we’ll do it again!’

Hans’ mouth curled up in a smirk. ‘Once again, you fail to see the big picture, Anna. Your resident ice witch is already in my grasp; and this concerns much more than just you or me, or even Arendelle.’

Anna cried, ‘What have you done to my sister, you monster?’ She ran forward, fists clenched, only to be restrained by Kristoff. ‘Calm down! He wants you to do that!’ he said briskly in her ear.

Hans paused for dramatic effect, then added, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be joining her very soon. After all, there are people who are simply dying to meet you both!

‘Oh, and you remember our last riveting conversation? About how I have a frozen heart? Let me tell you this: ever since the day I was reduced to little more than a beast of burden, after all those years shoveling manure and tending to my brothers’ every single whim, my heart is a raging flame, yearning for revenge – which starts NOW. You punched me into the sea that day; it’s only fair I return the favor, don’t you think?’

His retinue started forward all of a sudden, grabbing the trio before they could react, wrestling them to the ground. Hans stepped towards them slowly, savoring every moment.

Lilliana muttered, ‘If you’re going to help, now’s a great time to start, buddy…’

Right at that moment, the leaves on the ground began to rise, slowly but steadily, twirling around Hans in an elaborate dance. Gradually, the wind gained strength, making whooshing noises and increasing in speed, knocking Hans and his retinue off their feet.

‘What is this?’ Hans asked loudly. ‘Get–‘ he was cut off as a tuft of leaves flew straight into his mouth. Gale became a ferocious gust of wind, creating a protective barrier around the royals. His troops went so far as to fire arrows at Gale, but none of them penetrated the wall of leaves.

The men gasped in surprise as the earth below them caught fire, red and blue sparks of flame dancing at their feet, seemingly materializing out of thin air.

When they tried to avoid the flames by retreating to the river, the water suddenly reeled them in, streams of water snaking into tendrils, as though the river had a life of its own. A shimmering projection of a horse briefly appeared underwater, its eyes glowing with murderous intent. Just like that, pandemonium erupted in the once-serene clearing.

Hans’ face was a total mess (even more than before), having took the brunt of the leaf storm. He tried to rally his troops, but they were in total disarray. Still, he could tell the threat was subsiding. The flames, once burning like a miniature sun, were already fizzling out rapidly, and most of the men had escaped the clutches of the sentient river. Since Anna, Kristoff and Lilliana were enclosed in the hurricane, they could hardly evade him either. All he had to do was wait it out. ‘Damn sorcerers,’ he cursed.

Meanwhile, in the eye of the storm, Lilliana was acting as a nature spirit translator. ‘Gale says he can get us all… what?’ she asked desperately, unable to believe what she was hearing.

‘What’s the matter?’ Kristoff prompted her. ‘We need to know.’ 

Lilliana responded, a look of despair on her face. ‘Gale says he’s weakening cause Elsa has been captured.

‘He can only save one of us. So one of you has to go with…’

‘No.’ Anna and Kristoff spoke as one. They locked hands and looked into the other’s eyes, knowing full well what they had to do. ‘Gale, get Lilliana out of here. Keep her safe!’ Kristoff said.

‘What? But…’ ‘No time to explain, Lilliana. You’ve got the best chance of surviving and finding help. Besides, there’s no way I’d allow you to be captured by him.’ Anna paused. ‘Believe in yourself, alright? You’re stronger than you know!’

The young telekinetic knew there was no time left. She could already feel Gale slowing down; the tornado would dissipate any second now. She lowered her head. ‘I promise I’ll save you. All of you.’

Anna smiled gently at her daughter, kissing her on the cheek. ‘That’s all I need to know. Gale!’

At her call, the air spirit focused around Lilliana, pulling her into his spectral embrace. With two fewer people to protect, he was able to keep up the gale-force winds. Hold on, he said. There might be some… turbulence. As Gale spoke, she was whisked upward, heading away from Hans. She saw mercenaries immediately rush over to seize her parents, who didn’t retaliate. She wanted to scream, but the air was ripped away from her, making it hard to breathe, let alone talk.

The rest of Hans’ troops started shooting arrows and throwing stones hoping to stop the elusive wind spirit. Naturally, Gale, with no physical form, was unaffected by the rain of missile weapons. He tried his best to shield Lilliana, but there was only so much he could do in his weakened state. The last thing Lilliana saw was a grey object flying towards her face—

And then, darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

Lilliana dreamed.

She was back at home, in the Arendellian castle. The room she was in was obviously designed for a baby, with a crib, play toys, and colorful decorations, basically anything a newborn would want. She rolled over and realized she was lying on another crib, which couldn’t have been more than a meter in length.

Then, Anna and Elsa walked into the room. Elsa looked the same as always, but Anna… wow. With half the wrinkles, frown lines, and traces of white hair, she looked about fifteen years younger. In the back of her mind, Lilliana subconsciously realized she was seeing this through her own eyes, but as a newborn toddler.

‘Isn’t she just the cutest thing?’ Anna beamed with motherly pride. ‘I was thinking of calling her Lily, like the flower, but Kristoff wanted to name her after me, so we’re naming her Lilliana now!’

‘That’s a good name!’ Elsa smiled back. ‘But she’s not just cute… she’s also very powerful.’

‘Powerful…’ Anna stared at her sibling in utter disbelief. ‘You mean Lilliana knows magic, just like you?’

Elsa nodded. ‘Remember when the mist over the Enchanted Forest was cleared? It only happened because of your actions, because you were willing to sacrifice yourself to set things right, and the spirits agreed that you should be rewarded. She is a gift from nature, Anna.’

Anna believed her without question. After all, Elsa was the human embodiment of nature itself. ‘You’ll do great things someday, I’m sure of it!’ Anna cooed, holding Lilliana by the hand.

Lilliana dreamed.

Her surroundings warped into the Great Hall, the entirety of Arendelle packed in to celebrate the New Year Festival. She was an eight-year-old back them, exactly a decade ago. That poor child had no idea her life was about to be turned upside down – and not for the better.

Kid-Lilliana was ecstatic. Mother had finally let her perform ‘magic’ tricks in front of everyone, and she was excited to provide entertainment and joy to other people during the festivities.

Time suddenly jumped straight to the end of the act. On the stage, Lilliana declared in the best showman-like voice she could muster, ‘Ladies and gentlemen! For my final trick, I will make this set of armor move on its own!’ She gestured to a set of medieval armor she asked someone to haul from the portrait gallery.

The crowd froze in silent suspense as Lilliana concentrated. They were absolutely fascinated with the royal princess, who possessed mystical qualities like her aunt. Meanwhile, beads of sweat flowed down her forehead as she tried her very best to move the hunk of metal. She knew moving a heavy object would be hard, but surely not like this! She went for one last effort, and her entire body shuddered as the full extent of her abilities suddenly recoiled onto her.

The next moment, she was on the floor, unmoving as people rushed towards her in concern. She tried to stand up, but a huge headache prevented her from doing so. All she could do was slip into the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness.

This incident was to have far-reaching repercussions. Kristoff and Anna, with the encouragement of Elsa, allowed Lilliana to manifest her powers freely, and interact with people outside the castle pretty much as frequently as she wanted. After that fiasco however, Anna went out of her way to make sure Lilliana was exposed to as little metal as possible. (She tried to explain to her mother that only using her powers on or through metal would hurt her, but Anna wouldn’t have any of it.) Lilliana couldn’t visit the village quite as often either. Too bad there was nothing she could do about it.

Lilliana dreamed.

The sky was cloud-filled and dark, with thunder crackling and the occasional lightning strike which shook the world and left shadows in her eyes.

The sea was churning up and down, the waves rising up to five meters high, threatening to destroy everything in sight – and yet Lilliana sensed it wasn’t nearly as violent as it should have been. She focused on a fleet of ships in the corner of her vision, dozens of vessels heading towards an all-too-familiar glacier in the distance.

Her view shifted once again and she was inside one of the boats, in a comfortable, spacious room piled with maps and scrolls. Two individuals were talking, and what unsettled Lilliana was that their figures were completely obscured in shadow, even though the room was well-lit. All she could do was listen carefully.

The first to speak had a squeaky, male voice which somehow oozed of animal cunning. ‘Absolute genius, sire. Getting Westergaard to attack them in the south and distract the Dark Sea’s guardian was an amazing masterstroke!’

The second person had a much deeper, sinister voice which plunged fear into Lilliana’s heart. ‘After we take Ahtohallan, there will be no need for the prisoners, or that fool Hans. Even with their magic, they cannot defy the will of a king.’

‘Indeed, sire. But are you willing to wage war against Arendelle? No, ah, sentiment?’

The man with the deep baritone chuckled coldly. ‘If they are wise, they will surrender immediately – especially after they see what happened to their queens. Besides,’ Lilliana still couldn’t see his face, but she instinctively knew he was looking directly at her, which sent a chill down her spine. ‘What is a kingdom to a man that can have the world?’

Without warning, she heard Ahtohallan’s siren call. Contrary to its normal soothing, melodic tone however, this sound was more high-pitched and with an unmistakable sense of urgency, almost like… a distress call? Before Lilliana could wrap her head around it, the vision ended and she awoke.

She was in a small, dark cave, positioned right next to the entrance. When she turned to look outside, it was almost sunset – she’d been out for almost six hours now. There was a small pond nearby, and Lilliana was briefly startled by a pair of gleaming eyes in the water, looking back at her. She remembered Elsa’s tales about the water Nokk that could take on the form of a horse. This was definitely it.

She was about to wave in greeting when she heard footsteps and a light breeze. Seeing that the Nokk was unalarmed, Lilliana resigned herself to rubbing her head in pain as she waited for the new arrivals to come. They turned out to be Gale and Bruni, coming back with some fresh fruits.

_Food for the night_ , Gale said, as Bruni nudged them towards her and licked its eyeball.

‘Thank you,’ Lilliana replied, gratefully munching on an apple.

After an awkward silence, a deep female voice rang in her mind, which Lilliana assumed was the Nokk. _What do we do now?_ It asked. _The humans are still waiting for us to save them, and we don’t have any time to lose!_

 _We’re still not at full strength_ , Gale said calmly. _The only one around with any power right now is…_

In unison, they all turned their heads to look at Lilliana. Or at least Gale would, Lilliana thought, if he had eyes… or a body. Oh well.

All of a sudden, the immense weight of her dire predicament hit her for the very first time. Her family had been captured. Dangerous, ruthless enemies wanted her dead, and there was no one to call for help. She was expected to save an entire tribe with nothing but her bare hands.

She couldn’t bottle up her feelings anymore; all the anxiety, all the pressure she felt was let loose, like water from a dam. She burst into tears, startling the three spirits.

_What’s wrong?_ Bruni gazed at Lilliana with a concerned look, whimpering at her.

‘I-I don’t know, alright?’ Lilliana snapped. ‘I don’t know what to do! If I don’t think of something, everyone I love will…’

She was about to continue when a spout of water hit her right in the face, taking her by surprise.

_Calm. Down,_ Nokk said firmly, snapping Lilliana out of her mental breakdown. _Can’t you feel it? This is where your roots begin. This is where you are strongest – stronger than both our mothers._

‘Really?’ Lilliana was unconvinced. ‘All my life, I’ve looked up to Anna and Elsa. They’re not only amazing, wise rulers who care for the people, but also brave and loyal women who aren’t afraid to do the next right thing, even if it’s dangerous. How can I possibly be like them when I couldn’t even safe my own family?’ She curled herself into a ball.

Another shot of water, this time soaking her from head to toe. Lilliana wisely decided not to provoke Nokk anymore lest she die of hypothermia.

_Be reasonable, Lilliana,_ it whinnied sternly, shaking its liquid mane. _No one could have done anything against that army, not even Mother herself. Besides, I can see the truth in people’s hearts so I know you_ will _find a way… for courage isn’t a quality you seem to lack._

 _We believe in you._ Gale added, twirling around her to prove his point. _As do your family._

Lilliana stood up all of a sudden, new-found determination and vigor in her eyes. She felt like her blood had just been infused with steel, and for the first time in forever, she knew exactly what to do next. The nature spirits were thrilled and startled by this change. Her body language, her expression, her demeanor… everything suggested this was a completely different girl who’d just got knocked out a few hours ago.

_Yay!_ Bruni cheered. _Now that you’re better, can you make me a flurry?_ It pleaded her with its big, black puppy-dog eyes, with enough cuteness to make one’s heart melt.

Lilliana gawked at the request. _What’s a – Don’t ask,_ Gale responded, making a sound resembling a sigh. ‘Mayyyyyybe later, Bruni.’ She patted it on the head, trudging towards the exit. ‘I hear evil lairs are great this time of year.’


	9. Chapter 9

They waited until nightfall to approach the stronghold, its location discovered by Gale days before.

_Be very careful from here,_ Gale spoke. _They’ve placed guard posts around the perimeter, but we should be able to see it from this hilltop._

Lilliana took one peek at the enemy lair and winced, making a hissing noise. She knew almost instantly that it was an incredibly tough nut to crack.

The place was a literal fortress, built with solid stone and mortar. It had tall walls and a deep moat to keep potential attackers at bay, and its towers and battlements gave defenders a plethora of positions from which they could rain down arrows or rocks. Sited on top of a long, gradual rise, it seemed at times to be floating in the air. In other circumstances, Lilliana might even have found it majestic, if not for the ominous, dark ambience just oozing from the structure.

From her occasional military classes (she’s the future queen; she’d have to deal with these things at _some_ point), she knew that for a siege to be successful, she’d need to outnumber the defenders at least three to one, preferably four. When Hans abducted her family she counted at least thirty troops, and she’d drink Kristoff’s lemongrass stew if there weren’t more. Looking back, she had… oh right, three nature spirits who weren’t even at full power. Great.

‘Look guys, I hate to say this, but going in right now is suicide,’ Lilliana said. Suddenly, an idea popped up, like a lantern lighting up in her head. ‘Isn’t there a fourth spirit? Earth Giants or something? We could really use a couple of them right now.’ If Anna’s descriptions during those long-time-ago bedtime stories were accurate, even a few of those behemoths could wreak havoc on their enemies, or at least allow them to sneak inside. After all, they destroyed a dam with minimal effort. She could already imagine the giants hurling a storm of boulders at the fortress, paving their way inside.

Nokk shook her head erratically. _Ever since Mother was taken by those lowlifes, our earthen brethren have been very… volatile. They’ll attack anyone in sight. They won’t listen to reason._

 _Angry,_ Bruni added. _Scary._

What choice did they have? Lilliana thought of her loved ones, relying on her to save them from their sadistic captor, which tipped the final scale. She was committed now.

To the spirits’ dismay, she asked, ‘Can you show me where they are?’ Half an hour later, they reached the Earth Giants’ clearing, a river sandwiched between two cliffs. Lilliana was thankful for her three guides. Without them, she’d almost certainly be lost in the woods.

The jagged cliffs loomed above them, towering ramparts of stone glinting in the moonlight that stretched as far as the eye could see. The huge palisade of solid rock looked insurmountable, the steep edges daring her to try. And on the cliffsides…

Were several hulking figures taller than the ridges themselves. Each gigantic behemoth seemed to be made completely of stone and a clay-like substance, with vaguely humanoid outlines. Even their pinky fingers were larger than her entire body, and she knew that a casual flick could crack her skull wide open.

Right now, they were dozing off, snoring loudly at each other. They seemed harmless enough, but that could change drastically with one wrong move. Lilliana’s hands were shuddering with fear. A large part of her just wanted to let them be and leave. She suddenly thought of Anna’s words.

‘You’ll do great things someday, I’m sure of it!’

‘Believe in yourself, alright? You’re stronger than you know!’

Lilliana’s facial features turned upside down, her anxious expression replaced by a firm, determined look. This would probably get them all killed, but she decided that she’d do the next right thing no matter what, especially if the next step was unclear.

_Are you absolutely sure?_ Gale asked apprehensively.

‘Yes.’ The spirits braced themselves, prepared to protect Lilliana at all costs. Meanwhile, she took a deep breath, and shouted, ‘Wake up! WAKE! UP!’

The earth rumbled and the ground shook. Small fragments of rock rained down on the unlikely team of heroes, which Lilliana hastily deflected with her magic. It was as though the sky, the entirety of nature itself was awake. Lilliana came to the conclusion that she had had no idea what sleeping beast she was poking, and she regretted it immediately.

Too bad there was nowhere to run.

The Earth Giants – there had to be at least five of them – grumbled noisily, wondering who dared arouse them from their slumber. As one of them clambered upwards, it accidentally tripped on its companion, causing the companion in question to bellow loudly and push the first giant over. Lilliana didn’t need mind-reading powers to tell they were _really_ cranky, and she couldn’t help but take a few wary steps back.

Eventually though, they were able to get themselves together, looming over our heroes in a semi-circle, as though the Earth Giants were gods assembling to determine their fates. The gigantic spirits didn’t attack them yet, which Lilliana took as a good sign. She motioned for Gale to try the diplomatic approach.

_Brothers!_ Gale begun tentatively. _How about we sit down for a moment, and, um, discuss –_

companions. Fortunately, she was on full alert and blasted it out of the air.

The others however, followed suit, and the sky was raining boulders in the blink of an eye. The Nokk immediately dissolved into water, while Gale just calmly watched the stones pass through him, leaving Lilliana and Bruni running around like headless chickens.

As Lilliana watched her life flash before her eyes, she suddenly remembered what Nokk said: They won’t listen to reason.

Something inside of her finally snapped, and she thought: Fine. Then I’ll make them _see_ it.

Lilliana drew on her hidden reserves of power, a vast reservoir of pure, glowing energy she didn’t even know she had. For the past decade, she had been forced to hold herself back, in fear of hurting others. She was constantly fearful, terrified of making the same mistake once more – and the consequences wouldn’t just be on herself. If she couldn’t even control her own abilities, how could she possibly compare to legendary heroes like Elsa and Anna? Doubts like these ate at her every single day, and she never really realized – but she was sick and tired of it.

Right at that moment, one of the hulking figures lunged with its huge fist stretched outwards, straight towards Lilliana, who was seemingly oblivious to her imminent death.

_Watch out!_ Bruni, Gale and Nokk screamed in panic.

Lilliana let it go.

Clenching her fists, she released a psionic wave. The Earth Giant’s fist was frozen in mid-air, as though it was blocked by an invisible wall. It tried to walk, but its entire body was immobilized as well. The sight of a mountain sized giant stopped in its tracks triggered a primal instinct of fear in the other behemoths, and all the spirits present were dumbstruck at this display of power.

But that wasn’t all. She released all her pain and anguish, the hidden sadness of not being able to be whole, the best version of herself. She laid her soul bare for everyone to see and hear.

Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. All of them were seeing the exact same thing: a series of images depicting Lilliana’s memories, from her most embarrassing secrets, to her deepest fears, all the way up to her parents being captured right in front of her. They knew, most of all, that Lilliana Frost would do anything, go anywhere, to save her family.

When she looked up again, there were tears in her eyes.

‘Please… I want to save my family and this forest. Just as much as you do! But I can’t do it alone. I really need your help.’ Lilliana pleaded.

_Way to go, Lilliana._ Nokk and Gale muttered.

The Earth Giants were speechless for several tense moments, still shook by what they had just witnessed. After what seemed like an eternity, one of them rumbled grudgingly, _You have proven yourself worthy; willing to sacrifice yourself for others. We will gladly lead the charge against your enemies!_ His friends stomped the ground in agreement, causing tremors with each impact.

They started to turn towards the prison, their heads rising above the vast sea of trees.

Gale cried out. _Wait!_

The hulking warriors complained. _What now? Just because we’re not at full strength, doesn’t mean we can’t crush those brutes!_

 _We don’t have a plan!_ Gale retorted. _Can’t you just –_

 _We have a plan._ They grunted profusely. _Attack._ With the last word spoken, the giants continued onward.

_What now?_ Nokk sighed. _They always were quick to act – when they weren’t sleeping, anyway._

Lilliana shrugged, panting heavily. The psychic burst took a lot out of her, and she had yet to recover. ‘I fi-figured we’d let them do-do their own thing. We’ll ju-just sneak in from the other end. After all, the guards are b-bound to get distracted. Who wouldn’t?’

The girl picked up Bruni, leapt onto Nokk and shouted playfully, ‘Giddy-up, horsey!’

_Don’t call me_ horsey _ever again,_ Nokk replied indignantly, and rode off into the distance, with Gale hot on their tail.


	10. Chapter 10

Meanwhile, Erik, one of the guards on duty at Prison Darkheart, was bored and drowsy. Nothing ever happened here. You could hear a pin drop in the vast forest, as though even the wind had deserted it. To make matters worse, he was forced to take the late-night-to-early-morning shift, which meant he’d be tired for the whole day.

His colleague on the south tower, Daryl, had snuck a tankard of ale in the guardhouse the day before. ‘Want a drink, mate?’ The burly man asked, a mug of the amber-colored drink in hand.

‘Sure,’ Erik replied with a yawn, filling up his own mug heartily. ‘There’s sod all else to do around here.’ He took a swig, and immediately felt a rumbling sensation. _Didn’t think the alcohol would be this damned strong._ ‘Mate, do you feel an earthquake, or is it just me?’

Erik looked at his unresponsive partner, who was staring open-mouthed at the horizon, a glazed look in his eyes. He spun around to see a series of looming shadows standing well above the tree line, each of them distinctly humanoid under the moonlight. For a moment, he was too shocked and paralyzed to move. It was a product of the prisoners’ dark magic. It had to be.

The witch’s minions stopped abruptly, and reared their arms back in unison. There was a mesmerizing quality in their fluid movements, which made it obvious they’d done this tons of times before. Even as the first wave of boulders collided with the tower, the two guards still stayed as they were.

Suffice to say, those two had drunk their last drop of ale.

The impact alerted the other sentries on the battlements. ‘We’re under attack by monsters!’ ‘Sound the alarm!’ Nearly every single guard on duty rushed to the southern side, firing whatever missile weapons they had.

Meanwhile, Lilliana and the nature spirits had reached the northern end. Thanks to the colossal Earth Giants, they were able to ride across the moat undetected. Hearing the commotion on the battlements, Gale escorted Lilliana and Bruni up the wall, while Nokk stayed behind.

 _I can’t fight without a source of water_ , Nokk said ruefully. While Nokk seemed fine so far, personality wise, Lilliana knew that deep down, there was a rather murderous aspect to it as well. It had drowned countless sailors and travelers (including Lilliana’s own grandparents; that was something Elsa preferred not to acknowledge) to protect Ahtohallan, so she wasn’t anxious to let the water horse join the upcoming carnage.

‘It’s alright,’ she said. ‘Pick us up when I call you!’

As Nokk rode off, Lilliana turned her attention towards the enemies. Already there were alarmed cries sounding from all directions. Four men, armed with swords and axes, charged towards the trio.

‘I got this,’ Lilliana declared confidently. Since the passageway was narrow, the defenders could only come at them one at a time. Making a pushing motion with both arms, Lilliana caused them to tumble over like bowling pins. However, they picked themselves back up and continued their charge, with more following behind them.

Luckily, they’re not wearing armor or I’d be screwed, Lilliana thought. She clapped her hands together, and the first two were smacked against each other, head first. They were down for the count.

She couldn’t congratulate herself though, for a third came at her, sword slashing through the air. Lilliana nimbly ducked under his wild swing and pushed the man on his stomach. He immediately shot out like a cannonball, flattening some of his companions.

Gale and Bruni weren’t just standing by, twiddling their thumbs. The air spirit summoned a whirlwind, making sure none of the arrows from the towers could hit Lilliana while Bruni returned fire with a salvo of red hot fireballs.

Despite their best efforts, there was still more to come. The defenders, now more wary of Lilliana’s abilities, ceased their reckless frontal charge and came at her slowly but steadily, a few at a time.

Lilliana cursed. If they had continued their fast-paced offense, they would have just gotten in each other’s way, giving her a better chance. Now they adopted a slow, deliberate approach, she had no way to capitalize on the confusion.

She blocked the first sword strike, but barely managed to evade a stab coming from a different direction. Lilliana focused her power around her arms, forming invisible shields that she used to parry their blades.

She sensed that they were losing steam. Once again, fatigue was beginning to set in; Gale’s barrier wasn’t quite as solid, and Bruni’s flames were sputtering and dissipating. She leapt back in the nick of time to dodge a stray crossbow bolt and shouted, ‘Retreat!’

The girl picked up Bruni and ran down the ramparts, going farther away from their objective.

‘I’m going to need one last effort from you guys,’ Lilliana panted. ‘Bruni, firewall now!’

The little salamander took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide, and flames the color of amethyst shot out. With Gale feeding the fire with air, a column of fire was erected, cutting their pursuers off.

And when the inferno flickered out… the trio were nowhere to be seen! The guards, convinced they had witnessed witchcraft, were reluctant to keep chase. They were about to join their comrades in dealing with the giant beasts when the moat spouted out water like a fountain, attracting their attention.

Meanwhile, Lilliana and Bruni were stuck on the inner side of the wall, thanks to her telekinesis keeping them up. While Nokk kept up its distraction from the outer end, they creeped over to the guardhouse like spiders, with Gale following them as a light breeze, spying on the men above.

_We’ve passed the squadron,_ Gale remarked. _Better hurry before they turn around._

‘Right,’ Lilliana muttered. Her adrenaline rush was rapidly fading. She’d never exerted herself so hard in her entire life, and her body ached from the strain. She pulled herself up and over the wall, with a clear path towards the guardhouse, and dashed towards it.

Her sixth sense screaming at the back of her mind, she whirled around just in time to stop a spear in midair. ‘Go, go! We need to reach the stairs!’

Gale transformed back into hurricane form to give Lilliana cover, while Bruni gave out spectacular sparks to blind the opponents. Using these distractions, they were able to reach the staircase, and lock the heavy stone door behind them.

They paused to take a break, surveying their surroundings. There were three floors below them, and there didn’t seem to be a sentry in sight, which unsettled Lilliana. That Hans creep understaffed or something? She thought.

‘Here’s what we’re going to do. There’s three floors and three of us. I’ll take the lowest level. Whoever finds my family, warn the others alright?’

_Let’s go then!_ Bruni squealed. Gale however, wasn’t as enthusiastic.

_Splitting up is dangerous at this point,_ he mused. _We should stick together._

‘I know, but this place is huge, and I don’t think the Earth Giants can hold on much longer. We don’t have a choice. You guys regain your strength first!’ With that, Lilliana bolted down the stairs.

She proceeded with caution, poking her head out at every bend. She faced no real opposition on the way down, right up until the bend leading to the lowest level. Lilliana saw three guards lying in wait for her, two with bows and arrows, and she instinctively darted back.

Not a moment too soon. An arrow whizzed by the spot where her head was a second ago. More arrows followed, the razor-sharp warheads sparking against the wall.

Lilliana devised a plan. The arrows were metallic so she couldn’t send them back… but she had other tricks up her sleeve.

Concentrating hard, she made a pulling gesture, her fingers extended like claws, and a few stones extracted themselves from the stairs. Swiping to the right, she launched them down the stairs, and they arced through the air like a miniature hailstorm.

Hearing grunting noises, she dashed around the bend, taking the swordsman by surprise. The attack worked better than she’d hoped. This wouldn’t be a problem! Lilliana immobilized him with a simple thought and knocked him out with a savage right hook.

Oh, how she wished she could do the same to Hans.

She prowled along the ground floor, ducking behind a wall at the slightest sign of trouble. Surprisingly, she was just being paranoid – the only guards she saw were recuperating from the Earth Giant onslaught. She needn’t worry about them.

Most of the iron-barred cells however, were filled with Northuldran prisoners, who were aroused by the commotion outside. Lilliana was running low on time though, so she reassured them, promising to break them out later.

Lilliana turned the corner and she saw something that piqued her curiosity. At some point, one of the earth spirits projectiles must have scored a direct hit on a dungeon cell. The wall had a gaping hole in it, the metal bars flattened. There was no one in it… she hoped. As she paced forward, she could hear a slight moaning sound coming from there. Careful inspection revealed a white, powdery substance spread all over the floor – snow? With weirdly, a carrot, three twigs and three black pebbles.

Lilliana screamed as she put two and two together.

She frantically manipulated the snow and rolled it into balls of different sizes. Then she attached the nose and limbs to form a familiar-looking snowman, who had a strange liking for summer, philosophy and warm hugs.

‘Thank goodness you’re here, Lilliana!’ Olaf exclaimed, hugging her slender legs. ‘I was beginning to think I’d have to live as a platter for the rest of my life! Most unpleasant!’

‘It’s great to see you too, Olaf,’ Lilliana grinned. ‘Did those jerks hurt you?’

‘Well, they tried to torture me for information, but I think they gave up after my head fell off,’ Olaf whispered in a conspiratorial tone. ‘The past really does have a way of returning, huh? I mean, Hans? No way!’

‘Speaking of the past…’ As happy as she was to see Olaf again, his presence in that dungeon had a certain significance to it, which she couldn’t place. _It’s right on the tip of my tongue – arghhhh! That fight must have wiped my brain clean._

‘Come on, Olaf,’ Lilliana said. No point in giving herself a headache. ‘We need to locate Anna, Kristoff and Elsa fast.’

‘They’re not on this floor,’ Olaf replied. ‘I’ve been here for a month now, I would have seen them.’

The two bolted up to the second level, and searched from cell to cell. This space was considerably less populated, with little to no captives.

‘You know what, Lilliana?’ Olaf asked, looking at their surroundings warily. ‘Don’t go thinking that everything will make sense when you get older, alright? It just gets worse and worse.’

‘Never even crossed my mind,’ Lilliana murmured absentmindedly. Olaf did tend to ramble on and on sometimes, and she needed to focus here.

‘Some people say that prison is a site of reform and change,’ Olaf continued. ‘I can’t wait to see what it does to us —‘

His words were cut off as Lilliana grabbed him by his wooden limb.

‘Look! There’s Honeymaren and Ryder!’ she interrupted, pulling him towards a cell close to the staircase on the opposite side.

Disoriented by the girl’s sudden tug, Olaf shouted, ‘You mean Samantha?’ He giggled and said, ‘I still don’t know a Samantha! Silly me!’

‘Lilliana! Olaf! Look, Maren! Someone’s coming to save us!’ Ryder exclaimed.

‘Don’t get my hopes up, Ryder… your reindeer acts and stuff and sweet and all, but you’ve really got to stop…’ Honeymaren sighed. ‘I betrayed my friends. I let all of them down.’

‘Look, I don’t blame you, Auntie Maren,’ a female voice rang behind here, clear as a bell, which made Honeymaren turn around instantly.

‘What’s important is that you tell me where Elsa and the others are,’ Lilliana continued, perfectly aware of Honeymaren’s anguish and guilt. ‘You were just protecting your people back then; now you have to do it one more time. _Where is Elsa?_ ’

Honeymaren hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly. ‘When they sent me back here with your mother and father, I saw Anna and Kristoff being taken to a secret tunnel on this floor. I think Elsa’s there too!’

Lilliana sifted through Honeymaren’s memories, finding a mental image of Hans’ lackeys opening a trapdoor in the wall, violently shoving her parents inside. ‘Got it,’ she said, fairly confident that she could find it as well.

Meanwhile, Olaf pulled his nose out of the cell’s lock. ‘My nose can pick the locks at home just fine… this place really is something else.’

Ryder asked, ‘Can’t you, Lilliana? I mean, you’ve got your powers and everything…’

Lilliana couldn’t help but shake her head adamantly, raising her hands up to her shoulders. ‘Best not to try. Metal and I most definitely _don’t_ mix.’

Ryder seemed frustrated, then quickly regained his smile. He said in his reindeer impression, ‘That’s fine! Be careful, you two!’ Honeymaren nodded in agreement, elbowing Ryder at the same time.

‘We’ll be fine,’ Lilliana lied uneasily, motioning for Olaf to follow. In truth, she was very worried about Gale and Bruni’s whereabouts. The place was big, but surely they would have come back to rendezvous with her by now!

Besides, no guards in the dungeons themselves? The Earth Giants were a huge threat, but still... this was too easy.

As she got lost in thought, Olaf prodded her. ‘This is the wall that Honeymaren was talking about, right?’

‘The one and only – try pressing on the stones to see if they open a secret door!’ Lilliana confirmed, pushing at the wall methodically.

‘This is exciting!’ Olaf giggled, hammering at the stones, but from the bottom up. Suddenly, at the snowman’s touch, one of them retracted into the wall, and the stones clicked and clacked as they shifted aside to reveal a doorway around two metres tall, and a set of steps leading down, illuminated by honest-to-God _torches_ along the way. ‘Found it!’

‘Nice job, Olaf,’ Lilliana whispered nervously. Even with all the tension, all that was at stake, she couldn’t help but stifle a yawn. She’d been awake for almost twenty hours now, and it was taking a toll on her. ‘Let’s go.’

As they descended into darkness, Olaf asked, ‘Are you going to fall asleep? ‘Cause I have plenty of trivia to tell you!’

Despite herself, Lilliana smiled. Olaf’s trivia, half of which were made up or simply fictitious, were the stuff of legend. ‘Not sure if that’s the best thing to keep me awake…’

What they saw made Lilliana so distraught she couldn’t speak. On the bottom of the stairwell was a prison cell, larger than all the others they’d seen, and her family was inside. But it wasn’t the sight of her parents in captivity, nor were the anxious, desperate looks on their faces which triggered such a reaction in her.

No, it was the sight of Elsa in chains, writhing in her sleep, sweat billowing down her forehead, pallid, sunken cheeks reddening with heat, and her chest rising weakly with every breath she took, that chilled her to the core.

In retrospect, she’d never, ever seen Elsa like this before – she always had the impression that her aunt was perfect and flawless in every way, even though Elsa was human just like the rest of them. Anna once told her a story about Elsa having a cold a while ago, something about her nineteenth birthday. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as this!

To make matters worse, the full implications of Olaf standing next to her hit her for the first time, and she felt, as Olaf would say, a gut-wrenching trepidation.

‘Olaf, weren’t you in Ahtohallan before any of this happened?’ Lilliana asked. ‘And if so… why are you here?’

‘I didn’t tell you?’ Olaf said, blissfully oblivious of the fact that their nightmare was only just beginning. His voice deepened slightly as he went into story telling mode, jumping from place to place. ‘It was six weeks ago, a tale of a brave snowman and his companions. Big, bad men landed on Ahtohallan! Marshmallow and the Snowgies escape; I distract them; I’m captured! And that is the story of how I became an inmate!’

His words struck fear into her like blows to the chest. Hostiles? In the place where all magic flows? Lilliana shuddered at the thought.

‘We need to let them out _now,_ ’ Lilliana made her way towards the barred room…

Only to feel the frosty chill of a cold, hard blade at the nape of her neck.

‘We meet again, _Princess_ Lilliana,’ Hans bowed mockingly, a sleek broadsword in hand. What really alarmed her however, was a pitch-black energy cage containing Bruni and Gale hovering behind him. ‘And you’re not going anywhere.’


	11. Chapter 11

Lilliana growled furiously. ‘Let them go. Now.’

‘Or what? You’ll overpower me with your bare hands?’ Hans chuckled coldly, his sword so close it was touching her neck. ‘Let me remind you that both you and your aunt are powerless; and without your hocus-pocus… you’re nothing.’

Anna glared daggers at Hans. There she was, a mere five feet away from her beloved daughter, yet she was so far from reach! Kristoff threw himself at the cage bars, but to no effect.

‘Get off Lilliana!’ Olaf bravely tackled Hans, but it was about as effective as hitting him with a wet paper bag.

Without taking his eyes off Lilliana, Hans casually stretched his leg out, connecting with Olaf’s head so hard it disintegrated.

‘Olaf!’ She cried out. His head wasn’t reforming as it normally would, which greatly distressed her.

‘What did you do to him?’ Anna screamed, fists clenched so hard they were turning white.

‘This is another one of Elsa’s pets, hmm?’ Hans asked nonchalantly, a dastardly grin on his face. ‘Considering the lady herself is at the end of her tether, I wouldn’t be so surprised.’

‘You’re a monster!’ Lilliana screamed, lunging at Hans in a desperate, reckless attempt to disarm him.

Hans simply grabbed her by the neck, choking her with his gloved hand. ‘Your mother and aunt made the monster, Lilliana Frost. All I ever wanted was recognition, to be free of my brothers’ constant abuse. But no, these two send me back in disgrace!

‘When Elsa left Arendelle, Anna here just left the kingdom to its own devices! I was the one who saved the entire population from dying to a summer snowstorm! But do I get any credit? Did I gain any sort of goodwill from the witch? No!’

‘So that’s what this is about?’ Anna asked. ’You’re jealous of us being able to rule?’

Hans ignored her, deep in thought, no doubt recalling his traumatic past. As he was distracted, Lilliana broke free from his grip, dashing towards the exit —

And bumped right into another armoured man, who caught her by the scruff of the neck, like holding a kitten. To her dismay, three more stepped into the room. One guard for each member of the family, she thought.

‘Dealt with the damned giants, master,’ one of them reported. ‘After we took down three of them, the rest were sent packing.’

‘You killed them?’ Anna asked, enraged. ‘You, you — ‘

‘It was simple really, once my men _got their heads together_ ,’ Hans glared at his lackeys pointedly, dark-purple sparks dancing at his fingertips. ‘And that’s only the tip of the iceberg of what we can do; like giving a normal human magic.

’Not so special now, are you? Knowing your only advantage is lost?’ He stared at Elsa with a look of pure hatred, his voice filled with venom. ‘You only bested me because of your oh-so-special powers, _Queen_ Elsa. Not anymore! For I have the power of Ahtohallan in the palm of my hand.’

Hans gestured at the cage containing Gale and Bruni. ‘Observe!’ He clenched his fists, and the cage crackled with a bright shade of obsidian, filling the air with an electric hum. Gale and Bruni suddenly screamed in pain, thrashing around uncontrollably.

With horror, Lilliana could feel the life force ebbing out of them. Anna and Kristoff shouted, ‘Stop hurting them!’

Hans cackled, releasing his grip. Gale and Bruni gave out sighs of relief. _That was electrifying,_ Gale muttered, feigning indifference. _Ow-ow-oww…_ Bruni moaned.

‘And the same will happen to you if you disobey me.’ Hans said coldly. ‘Take them to the battlements!’

After securing Lilliana in chains, Hans’ men tugged the family forcefully up the stairs, going back to where Lilliana started.

Anna asked Lilliana, ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m fine,’ Lilliana grimaced, seeming anything but. ‘I’m sorry I let you down — now I even got Gale and Bruni captured. Some Earth Giants died to help me, and their sacrifice was for nothing.’

‘Don’t say that!’ Anna cried, hugging her daughter. ‘My sister is dying. I can’t lose you too!’

‘We can’t dwell on that right now.’ Kristoff added in a low voice. ‘We need to know what Hans is planning.’

Lilliana tried to read Hans’ mind, her eyebrows bunched together from the effort. It was a futile gesture. The only thing she had going for her was Hans’ false sense of security. While she couldn’t use her powers on metal, physical contact with the substance didn’t affect her at all. All she could do was improvise to whatever Hans threw at them.

‘We’re here at last!’ Hans declared gleefully, gesturing to the door in fake politeness. ‘Ladies first,’ Hans grinned, holding the door open.

They walked outside reluctantly, Anna and Kristoff supporting Elsa on their shoulders. The battlements, once full of defending soldiers, were completely devoid of people. Their surroundings, once filled with war cries and carnage, were so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

The nature spirits really did a number on the place. Black burn marks, courtesy of Bruni, adorned the walls. Large amounts of boulders struck the others, creating gaping holes around the structure. No spot was left unscathed, which gave Lilliana a grim sense of satisfaction.

However, it was short-lived. A large cauldron a few metres away caught her attention. It had several scary-looking, foul smelling ingredients inside, which made her want to hurl.

‘What now, Hans? Going to cook us for dinner? I knew you were barbaric, but I never knew it was this bad!’ Kristoff taunted, trying to conceal his fear.

‘On the contrary, my dear mountain man, I plan on draining Elsa’s magic dry,’ Hans said matter-of-factly. ‘Unfortunately, she’ll have to die of course — and you three get to watch!

‘I want you to be broken, to feel the same desperation and rage that I once felt in my youth — only then will I let you die! I’ve always wanted to kill my siblings; guess I’ll have to settle for someone else’s.’

He then lifted an old book out of his satchel. The cover wrote ‘Secrets of the Magic Makers’, and Anna’s eyes widened with recognition. It was her turn to laugh hysterically.

‘That spell book is bogus, Hans,’ she giggled. ‘I tried to conjure a “Dreams Come True” spell once, and it didn’t do a thing! Its content is about as magical as Kristoff’s socks.’

‘Hey, my socks are fine,’ He muttered indignantly.

‘Of course you’d think that, Anna,’ Hans was unfazed, his grin growing wider. ‘Only the spells written in Norse runes have actual power. Runes, which you don’t have the slightest idea how to translate. Now if you’ll excuse me…’

With that, Hans lit a spark, and the cauldron started heating up. Bluish-purple fumes begun to billow into the air, along with a rotten smell that made Lilliana gag.

As Hans murmured incomprehensible words, Anna whispered hurriedly to Lilliana, making sure the guards nearby couldn’t hear her. ‘Is there any way you can stop the spell? Maybe tip the cauldron over or something?’ She struggled against her bonds, but to no avail.

Lilliana shook her head. ‘Even if I spill it, chances are he’ll just start over and we’ll all get killed. We need to stop him without his knowing.’

Anna renewed her efforts, glistening tears in her eyes. ‘I can’t let Elsa get hurt again,’ she said, remembering Elsa freezing to death in the depths of Ahtohallan. ‘I’ve got to do something…’

Kristoff marvelled at his daughter’s calm confidence, a stark contrast to her former rash, unsure personality, highlighted even further by his wife’s nervous breakdown. A few days ago, he wouldn’t have imagined Lilliana leading a prison break and invading a heavily-guarded stronghold, not in his wildest dreams, and no matter what happened next, he couldn’t be prouder.

‘It’s alright, Anna,’ He soothed her. ‘Elsa’s way stronger than Hans, I’m sure she’ll get through this.’ _I’m most certainly_ not _sure_ , he thought, glancing at Lilliana with a panicked look.

‘Wait!’ Anna suddenly blurted. ‘Elsa’s strong… so she can overpower Hans, right? All she needs is for someone to wake her up.’ She shouted, ‘Elsa, wake up! You’ve got to get up!’ but her sister didn’t even twitch.

’Shut up!’ One of the guards threatened. ‘You do that one more time, you’re gonna wake up with some nasty bruises, you got it?’

Lilliana calmed her mother down. ‘You’ve got the right idea, Mom,’ she gulped nervously. ‘I’m going inside Elsa’s mind.’

That wasn’t as simple as one might think. When Lilliana was a little kid, she tried to read her parents’ minds while they were asleep, to see their dreams. But their state of mind rubbed off onto her, and she immediately fell asleep in exhaustion.

She slept for twelve hours straight. Going into the mind of a comatose person… she couldn’t even begin to imagine the consequences.

She looked at Anna, her eyes bloodshot from crying. Lilliana remembered her childhood days, where Elsa would visit Arendelle to teach her magic and tell her outlandish tales, and they would play and laugh together. To Lilliana, Elsa was just as important as Anna or Kristoff.

Who was she kidding? She had to try.

She visualised her powers branching out like tendrils, delicately unlocking the door that was Elsa’s consciousness. Seeing an opening, she leapt into it without hesitation.

When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by a thick fog. She then looked at her hand and saw an hourglass in it, the sands of time flowing slowly but steadily towards the bottom. Her subconscious, telling her how much time she had left before…

_Don’t think about it,_ Lilliana thought. Calming her nerves, she chose a random direction and plunged into the mist.

As she walked through the ethereal minds cape, she saw Elsa’s most notable memories — core memories, she pondered. That should totally be a thing — as spectral images etched in the vapour.

_‘When the north wind meets the sea…’ A beautiful young woman with luscious brown hair and sea blue eyes cradled Elsa in her arms, singing a lullaby. Grandmother Iduna._

 _‘Do the magic! Do the magic!’ A girl who couldn’t have been more than five years old giggled. The girl bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman from before. ‘_ That must be Mom when she was a little kid,’ Lilliana realised.

_The girl slid down several snow dunes of varying height, moving up and down, up and down, going higher and faster. ‘Come on Elsa!’ She screamed happily at her sister._

_‘Slow down Anna, I can’t keep up!’ In Elsa’s haste to stop Anna from hitting the ground, her frostbit smacked Anna right on the head, sending Anna flying like a rag doll._

_‘Mama! Papa!’ Elsa rushed over to Anna’s side, desperately shaking her limp, lifeless body, begging her to wake up…_

_The scene shifted. Elsa was in a large, barren clearing, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna by her side. The dark surroundings and creepy forest noises would have startled her in normal circumstances, but she was too worried about her sibling, held in Agnarr’s arms, to be afraid._

_A rumbling noises, getting louder and louder, filled the entire clearing. Around twenty boulders rolled over to them, surrounding the family in a circle. From a distance, casual onlookers would have mistaken them for cannonballs, at least until they went out of ball form._

_Trolls._

_The elder, Grand Pabbie, looked at Anna with concern. ‘You are lucky she wasn’t hit in the heart. The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded.’ He waved his hand over Anna’s head, and her memories floated right above her. Grand Pabbie changed all of her magical memories to ordinary memories -- snowy play indoors with the girls in their nightgowns changed to outdoors on the winter fjords with the girls in winter gear. He put the ordinary memories back in Anna’s head._

_Grand Pabbie then faced Elsa, and as he spoke, he conducted the Northern Lights to show a silhouette of an adult Elsa creating magical snowflakes. **‘** There is beauty in your magic...But also great danger.’ The snowflakes turned into sharp spikes. ‘Fear will be your enemy.’ _

_The mist shimmered, and Elsa was in a massive blizzard. She struggled through her own storm, fear consuming her. A dark shadow approached. It was Hans, but two decades younger._ Seeing his handsome features, Lilliana understood why Anna was smitten towards the dashing prince. Not my type though, she thought wryly.

_‘Just take care of my sister,’ Lilliana heard Elsa say. ‘Your sister? She returned from the mountain weak and cold. She said you froze her heart.’ Hans replied, a mournful, saddened look on his face._

_‘I tried to save her, but it was too late. Her skin was ice. Her hair turned white…’_

_‘Your sister is dead… because of you.’_

_The snow froze in mid-air, suspended in grief…_

Lilliana bursted out of the gloom, and found herself on an icy plain. The entire ground was a sheet of ice, with several overturned ships in the corner of her vision. _The entire fjord is frozen._

She abruptly found herself face-to-face with Elsa. But this wasn’t a memory — she wasn’t viewing this from Elsa’s perspective anymore. No, this was what Elsa was experiencing _right now._

Elsa was in a blue dress, sparkling with glitter, rather than her usual white gown. She was sobbing, hugging an ice statue. It had an arm outstretched, head slanting upwards, mouth hanging open, its panicked features frozen in time. Two halves of a sword were laid at its feet.

Lilliana instantly realised what she was seeing.

Anna told her daughter the story of how she blocked a sword for Elsa, her body solidifying at the moment of impact. When asked how freezing felt like, Anna said, ‘It was fine. I felt nothing,’ but her thoughts betrayed her. 

Lilliana refocused on Elsa. From what she knew, after a while Anna would unfreeze, sisters would reunite, and Prince Hans would get the punishment he so richly deserved. However, nothing changed at all, Hans’ last words echoing in the air.

_‘Your sister is dead… because of you.’_

‘Umm, Elsa? Sorry to bother you, but we really need you out there…’ Lilliana approached her aunt, placing her hand on Elsa’s shoulder.

Elsa turned around to face Lilliana.

‘Anna… Anna’s dead… my sister’s dead and it’s all my fault! I was the one who made her chase after me, I was the one who froze her heart, I was the one who killed her!’

Lilliana tried again. ‘Anna’s alive and well, Elsa! It’s just the spell messing with your mind, snap out of it!’ She peered at the hourglass in her hand.

Only half was left. She was running out of time.

‘Don’t you understand? Anna died because of my powers. At least they’ll be gone soon.’ Elsa smiled wistfully. ‘Then I won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again.’

‘You’re the one who doesn’t understand!’ Lilliana shouted. ‘Hans is trying to kill you again, and he’ll succeed this time if you don’t WAKE UP!’

Elsa froze, her body as still as a statue. Her eyes were unfocused, sunken, as though her soul had drifted elsewhere. Just as Lilliana thought she was finally making some progress, Elsa’s irises abruptly turned an eerie shade of snow-white, and Lilliana couldn’t help but scream in fear.

‘Not just Anna…’ Elsa rasped in a deep voice, grabbing Lilliana by the shoulders. ‘Her daughter will die too, at the hand of… of… Oh Anna, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her…’ She shrieked, a high-pitched banshee cry that caused the vision to shudder violently.

Lilliana covered her ears, fighting the urge to give up and pull out. _I’ll be killed?_ She wondered. _Looks like I’m not going to survive this little trip after all._

She looked at the hourglass, with a mere quarter of the sand left at the top. _If I can’t finish the job myself, maybe someone else might have a chance._ She pushed her telepathic abilities to the limit, her mental feelers lashing outward like vines…

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the spell was nearly complete. Even a non-magic user like Kristoff could tell. After all, the dark, flaring aura around Hans was a pretty darn good indicator.

He looked at his daughter, her eyes closed, brows furrowed over in concentration. Looks like they really weren’t going to make it. Ever since he’d met Anna, his life had become way more dangerous, and they’d scraped past death more than once — but he wouldn’t have changed a second of their time together.

The mountain man turned to his wife, the person he loved most in the entire world.

‘Anna, if we don’t make it through this, I just want to say that… I love you. And if we die now, at least we’ll die together. I can live with that. I mean, I won’t live with that, since, well, you know what I mean…’ A few seconds passed and still no response from Anna. He looked closely at her face, her expression mirroring Lilliana’s.

They were both gone.

‘This is just great,’ he sighed, content to wait for the inevitable end.

Anna blinked repeatedly, shaking her head. She was disoriented from the sudden shift. One moment she was talking to Kristoff, the next she was whisked away by her daughter. She saw Lilliana and ran over to her.

Lilliana was gritting her teeth in pain, sweat running down her face. ‘Are you alright, Lilliana?’ Anna asked worriedly.

‘No,’ she grunted, ‘I’ve linked your mind with Elsa’s, but we don’t have much time left — maybe three minutes at best. You need to get Elsa to listen to you, or we’re all done for. Go!’

She decided not to tell her mother what Elsa had said. If Anna knew Lilliana would die from the strain, she’d definitely tell her to leave. She didn’t want to give up, not when they were so close… Lilliana pushed through the pain and prepared for one last effort.

At the same time, Anna tentatively approached Elsa. ‘Hey Elsa,’ she smiled. ‘Long time no see, huh?’

The older sister looked around frantically at the sound of Elsa’s voice. ‘Anna? Is that you? I thought you were —’

‘Frozen? I was, but your love saved me in the end.’ Anna pointed to the ice statue next to Elsa. ‘Love thaws everything, remember? Even the coldest of ice.’

‘You don’t blame me for anything? Abandoning you for thirteen years? Freezing you in the heart? Leaving you alone in Arendelle?’

‘None of it. I understand why you did those things; I can’t turn back the clock, but every minute, every second spent with you is precious.’ Anna replied. ‘Even freezing.’

’Stop lying to me!’ Elsa cried. ‘All this time, you kept telling me you felt nothing, but I always knew that wasn’t true! When you lie, your left eyebrow twitches, you’re doing it even now!’

Anna took a deep breath. ‘It was cold. Very cold. I’ll never forget the horror of warm flesh turning cold, all sensation fleeing as I turn into stone-cold crystal, not being able to do anything at all, not being able to protect you…’ She added, ‘But I’d happily go through it again and again than see you like this.’

Elsa mumbled, ‘I really should spend more time back home. I miss you every single day. All this time, you’ve been nothing but supportive and loving to me, but every time I make a decision, it ends up hurting you…’

Anna put her hand on Elsa’s shoulder. ‘We’re sisters. I couldn’t care less about that, Elsa! What’s important is that we’re together now. So let’s put the past behind us, alright? And we’ll do this _together,_ just like old times.’

She stood up and gestured to their surroundings. ‘After all, two sisters, one mind, right?’

Elsa laughed at the joke, triggering memories from long ago. Anna could tell Elsa was back to her normal self, and she grinned back.

‘Come on out, won’t you Elsa?’ Anna asked. ‘It’s so much more fun out there than in here.’ And with a flash, Anna and Lilliana were gone.

Hans could feel the new power surging in his veins. The vibrant, pulsing energy of Elsa’s elemental magic was truly powerful, vastly superior to his own — and soon it would be his.

_That will give me some extra bargaining power against the Illuminati as well,_ he thought. With victory in his grasp, he went on to the final verse.

Meanwhile, Anna regained her bearings, breathing heavily. Kristoff hurriedly asked, ‘Anna! Are you alright? How’s Lilliana?’

Anna felt groggy, and she’d only been in Elsa’s mind for five minutes. She couldn’t imagine how it had been for her daughter. She hastily leaned towards Lilliana, shaking her limp body. ‘Lilliana! Lilliana! Say something! Lilliana!’

To Anna’s dread, there was no response from the girl.

Suddenly, Hans could feel his magic fluctuating wildly, threatening to spill out of his torso. _What’s happening? The spell was flawless!_ He could feel his chest burning with pain, his insides churning, as though there was something bursting out of his body.

Hans’ aura faded and flared, faded and flared as he desperately fought for control. Anna shouted, ‘You can do it, Elsa. You can do it!’ With a bloodcurdling cry, his aura dissipated for the last time, transforming into a gleaming ball of light that went into Elsa’s body.

When the smoke cleared… Elsa had risen to her full height, glowing faintly with her former radiance, a far cry from the sickly state she was in before. She radiated pure power, cold air circulating around her hands.

And she was _mad._

Despite the spell’s failure, Hans couldn’t help but grin with relish. An opportunity to kill Elsa in a fight in front of her entire family? Even better!

The air shuddered as both sides prepared for the fight of a lifetime.


	12. Chapter 12

Elsa stood a few metres away from Hans, staring at him warily. She knew from experience how tricky and deceptive the man could be.

Hans’ men paced forward, their swords raised. Hans lifted up a hand to stop them. ‘Elsa’s mine,’ he smiled savagely. ‘Watch the others.’

Anna shook Lilliana frantically. ‘Get up Lilliana, please! Say something!’ Still no response.

Kristoff felt for a pulse. To his relief, his daughter still had a weak heartbeat. It wouldn’t last for long. ‘She needs healing now,’ he stressed.

Too bad the only one capable of doing so was in a face-off with her mortal enemy. The two combatants circled each other slowly, twin energies glowing around their palms, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Without warning, Hans pulled his sword out of its scabbard, and darted forward like a snake, the point headed straight for Elsa’s heart. She reacted just in time by freezing the air in front of her, creating a shield that stopped the blade in its tracks.

He tried again, feinting to one side then slashing from the other, but Elsa parried with daggers of ice, her hands always arriving at the perfect spot to deflect his blade.

The two of them were locked in a deadly dance, slashing and parrying, both waiting for an opening to appear. Kristoff didn’t know much about combat, but he knew that if Elsa continued to fight defensively like this, she would lose to the skilled swordsman.

Elsa nimbly ducked under Hans’ swipe and froze Hans’ arms and legs, immobilising him. However, he burst out of the ice with a thunderbolt and started to launch a series of lightning-fast strikes at Elsa.

Overhand cut, stab, backhand slash… Hans’ childhood training with the sword was really paying off, forcing Elsa to lose ground again and again. As fatigue begun to set in, Elsa’s reactions became slower, and she was dangerously close to having her head cut off. She wasn’t used to physical combat, so she was at a huge disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Anna and Kristoff were frantically trying to revive Lilliana, which mainly consisted of shaking her and shouting in her ear.

Anna looked at one loved one to another, struggling against her bonds desperately. One was completely unconscious, while the other was being trampled by an evil monster. Her heart felt like it was freezing to ice all over again — all was lost, and yet there was nothing, absolutely nothing she could do to help, which made her feel utterly powerless. ‘Please hold on! You’ve got to…’

Suddenly, Kristoff felt Lilliana’s pulse accelerate rapidly, her heart beating stronger than ever. ‘Oh my God,’ he exclaimed. ‘Lilliana’s —‘

Without warning, Lilliana darted up into a sitting position, her eyes wide open, as though she had a nightmare. She was breathing heavily, her eyeballs swivelling in confusion.

Anna hugged her daughter tightly. ‘Oh Lilliana, thank goodness you’re alright!’

Lilliana grinned. ‘Alright? What are you talking about? I’m fit as a fiddle! What’s going on? Where the heck are we?’

Anna asked, ‘Do you think you’re fit enough to help Elsa then? I don’t think she can hold on much longer!’

Lilliana seemed to notice the fighting for the first time. ‘No worries, Mom! This is Elsa we’re talking about here! She’s a literal goddess! I say, let’s sit back and watch!’ Her parents exchanged mortified looks as Lilliana settled into a more comfortable position, content to observe from the sidelines.

‘This is really bad,’ Kristoff whispered to Anna. ‘She’s delirious.’

Elsa blocked yet another attempt and leapt back to disengage, catching her breath.

‘Giving up, Elsa?’ Hans taunted. ‘I thought you’d put up more of a fight; I’ve barely had to use my magic. You disappoint me.’

He launched himself forward in an attack, his left leg lunging in a long stride, the blade aimed straight for her head. However, she trapped the sword with her daggers, forming an ‘X’. She shoved it aside and threw one of her daggers at point-blank range.

Caught by surprise, Hans abruptly leapt to the side, and the icicle spear grazed his neck. Although Elsa couldn’t see it, a bright red line of blood streaked across the side of Hans’ neck. He cursed softly. If it weren’t for his chain mail, he may well have lost right then and there.

He glared at Elsa with newfound caution as they circled slowly, both sides feinting attacks. Back and forth the two went, down the length of the battlements, their blades clashing, sliding against each other.

Elsa darted in and out, feinting, searching for an opening that never seemed to appear. Her breath was coming faster now, her body unused to the strain of physical combat.

Then Hans went at her again in earnest, his sword a flash of light as he swung a series of controlled strokes at Elsa, careful not to overextend himself. She tried desperately to stay away from him, her shoes sliding on the floor in a rapid rhythm. Considering Hans’ advantage in strength and speed, she knew very well violent exchange was something she had to avoid.

Elsa could feel her muscles tiring rapidly, the point of her dagger held lower than before. Making a wild slash with the dagger to force him back, Elsa ran in the opposite direction, releasing a barrage of frostbolts at Hans, all aimed at his head.

Hans’ thoughts were running along similar lines to Elsa’s. Knowing he had clear superiority in melee combat, Elsa was trying to increase the distance between them. Well, two could play at that game. Concentrating hard, an invisible layer of electricity surrounded the sword edge, and he swung it, blocking the projectiles in mid-air.

Shortening the distance between them, Hans rolled on the ground, dodging the second wave of ice shards. He made an overhand slash, nearly connecting with Elsa’s feet. As she jumped up to evade his deadly strike, Hans stood up and continued his assault, not allowing Elsa to disengage.

Elsa shuffled backwards, as Hans bludgeoned her daggers, his breath coming out in loud grunts, forgoing all finesse and subterfuge. Faced with his sheer brute force, she had no choice but to take him on. Her strength was being sapped, and she could feel her wrists aching from the impacts.

Watching from their position near the guardhouse, worry and fear gnawed at Anna and Kristoff. Kristoff whispered to Lilliana, ‘Elsa’s tiring. You’ve got to help her!’ Lilliana completely disregarded his concerns. ‘Like I said: no worries!’ she replied, the picture of indifference.

Elsa knew she had to end the fight quick — or Hans would finish it for her, and her family would suffer the consequences.

The thought of her sister brought her new reserves of energy, and she deflected one of Hans’ strokes, knocking him off balance for a split second. Instead of risking a stab with her dagger like last time, she decided to retreat again, making a huge wall of ice under her. That way, Hans couldn’t reach her with his blade. The crystalline wall was so immaculate, a clear reflection of Hans was visible on the surface.

‘Running away, Elsa?’ Hans sheathed his sword, hands crackling with sparks. Elsa was proving to be a far more capable opponent than he thought, foiling his plan for a quick result. ‘Let’s see you take this!’

He threw a lightning bolt at the wall, but it bounced off harmlessly. Changing tactics, he aimed directly for Elsa, while she returned fire with ice darts and frostbolts.

However, Elsa’s energy attacks were weakening. The fight before had eroded her stamina, and she was never at tip-top condition in the first place. At that moment, Hans knew that he was victorious.

‘Goodbye, Elsa Frost!’ He shouted, concentrating all his dark magic into one huge burst of lightning. With a grunt, he hurled it towards Elsa, and it whizzed through the air at a breakneck pace.

There was no time to dodge, no time to think. Elsa hurriedly focused on the moisture in the air, solidifying it into a bright white beam of ice which shot out from her palms.

The clash between ice and thunder shook the world.

The explosion created a smokescreen, obscuring everything in sight. Despite this, Lilliana smiled to herself. Reading Elsa’s mind, she knew something none of the others did. ‘Checkmate,’ she said cheerily.

Hans breathed deeply. That thundershock took a lot out of him, and he felt like he was going to collapse. But surely, surely now, the witch had to be dead. There was no way she could have survived…

And yet when the smoke cleared, Elsa was standing right in front of him. _Impossible!_ With a superhuman effort, he unsheathed his weapon and lunged at her in one fluid movement.

The sword connected with her chest… and Elsa’s image shattered into pieces!

‘Wha —’ Hans exclaimed, turning around to see Elsa leaping at him, a new pair of daggers in hand.

At that moment, Elsa knew she had him. But to kill a man in cold blood like this, even one as evil as Hans… as the protector of nature, which valued life above all else, she just couldn’t. She couldn’t deliver a killing blow.

Elsa flipped her hands so the dagger hilts were facing Hans at the very last second, connecting with a double-handed blow to his solar plexus, and Hans’ helmet was flattened inwards with a satisfying _clonk!_

Even with protection, Hans couldn’t possibly take such a hit, and his knees buckled as he fell forward, crumpling to the ground, and a wisp of black smoke escaped his body.

Her opponent defeated, Elsa dropped to her knees wearily, letting go of her stone cold blades. She had never exerted herself so much before, and she couldn’t even move a finger.

Unfortunately, there were still four armed goons around. Seeing their master fall, the men developed a healthy dose of fear for the white-gowned sorceress. Hans was a hard, unforgiving taskmaster, who tended to be very trigger-happy with his static shocks, and they weren’t anxious to seek revenge for him. However, seeing Elsa expose her weakness, they approached her warily, weapons raised.

Anna screamed, ‘Elsa! Watch out!’ The soldiers went for her with full force, their blades but an arm’s width from her head… and stopped mid-swing.

With a whooshing sound, the men were launched backwards as though shot from a cannon, a huge gust of wind pushing them away from Elsa and right into the path of a purple fireball. There was a colourful explosion, and they were down for the count.

’Sorry we’re late!’ A familiar, shrill voice rang, and the family looked back to see a snowman and a salamander running towards them. Olaf, Gale and Bruni were back!

‘Olaf!’ Anna exclaimed joyfully, trying to hug the little snowman. ‘I thought you were dead!’

Kristoff grinned. ‘It’s great to see you again!’

‘I was merely pretending to be dead,’ Olaf smiled smugly, untying their bonds. ‘Wasn’t that brilliant method acting? I believe the term is “playing opossum”.’

‘Sure it is,’ Anna stifled a laugh.

At the same time, Gale and Bruni were having a conversation with Lilliana, while the former attempted to burn through the chains.

‘Nice job guys,’ Lilliana pouted. ‘Elsa can’t claim a solo win now!’

 _What happened to her?_ Bruni asked, eyes wide with confusion. _She’s gone loony from entering Elsa’s mind, hasn’t she?_ Gale replied. _Give the girl some time._

‘I can still hear you, you know!’ Lilliana put her hands on her hips. ‘And I’ll have you know I’m perfectly sane.’

 _Loony Lily,_ the fire spirit giggled, its pleasure all too evident on its face. Even Gale couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Whatever you say,’ Lilliana sighed in defeat. ‘Oh, and could you stop spitting fire at me? It feels like a furnace over here.’

 _Sorry,_ Bruni said apologetically. _Loony Lily._

‘You little — ‘

‘Alright, calm down you three,’ Elsa’s breath had slowed down a little, and she limped over to her niece. ‘Hold — still.’

An ice beam shot out of her palm. The lock was already heated by Bruni, so when it froze, the temperature dropped rapidly and it fell apart.

‘Free!’ Lilliana shouted victoriously. ‘Thank you, Auntie Elsa!’

‘I should be the one to thank _you,_ ’ Elsa pulled Anna, Kristoff and Lilliana into a group hug. ‘If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead by now. You pulled me out of a dark place.’

‘That’s what sis-sisters do, right?’ Anna smiled, tears in her eyes. ‘I haven’t seen you for so long, I missed you so much!’

Elsa patted Anna on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry Anna. I’m not leaving you that easily.’ Ever since their time in the minds cape, their bonds had strengthened.

Secretly, Elsa was afraid that Anna blamed her for leaving Arendelle, and more importantly, leaving her alone. She’d caused so much trouble to Anna and the entire kingdom when they were younger, putting Anna in life threatening danger two times too many. Then Elsa repaid her sister by leaving her with the burden of ruling a nation, and left her home to live in some enchanted forest! If Anna was mad at her, if she held a grudge… well, Elsa could hardly blame her. Knowing that Anna still loved her, knowing that they would always be together despite the distance between them, helped her conquer her demons and free her of her guilt.

‘Hate to interrupt, but what do we do with him?’ Kristoff gestured to Hans’ unconscious body.

‘Simple.’ Lilliana said. ‘Gale, come give me a hand! Or a breeze? Whatever.’

Grabbing the severed chains with one hand, she threw them like a lasso towards Hans. Gale spun around him like a whirlwind, removing his armour and tying him tightly. As for the guards, Lilliana just tied them in a bundle with ropes.

‘That was fast,’ Anna gawked at her daughter.

‘Can’t say I won’t be happy to see him gone,’ Kristoff said. ‘Locking him up in his own prison is the perfect punishment for him.’

‘Hold up,’ Elsa mused. ‘Ahtohallan is still in danger. I can feel it calling to me. We might need him to know what the enemy is planning, so we can get to the glacier.’

‘But how?’ Anna asked back. ‘There’s no way he’ll just tell us everything.’

‘You called for a mind-reader?’ Lilliana replied, cupping Hans’ head with her palms, her eyes shut in concentration. Instead of her usual methodical, delicate approach, she violently sifted through his memories, with the force of a battering ram.

She gasped in surprise as the past overwhelmed her once more.

 _Hans was surrounded by twelve older brothers and his parents. It appeared to be a party of some kind._ My mother’s birthday party, _Hans thought._ Though I don’t see much of a celebration. Stupid politics, always politics with good old Father.

_‘Nice of you to join us, Hans,’the king said. ‘Did you not think your mother’s birthday worthy of your presence?’_

_‘I’m sorry Father,’ Hans said._

_‘Don’t apologise to me. Do so to your mother. She is, after all, the only one who would have noticed you were missing.’_

_Hans flushed as the truth of his words hit home. He noticed most of his brothers chuckling under their breath. ’What’s the matter, little brother?’ his brother Rudi asked in a cruel tone, anxious to embarrass him in front of their father. ‘Gonna cry?’_

_Hans clenched his fists in silent rage. Time for the daily dose of bullying to begin…_

_The scene shifted. News of Elsa’s coronation had just reached the Southern Isles, and Hans decided he had to be sent as the dignitary to Arendelle. It was his only chance to change his fate, his only chance to prove to his condescending brothers that he was capable of something. In his mind it was simple: swoop in, make the new queen fall in love in him, and become her suitor. That’d show them!_

_But first, he’d have to be there._

_So he did all sorts of jobs for his father, no matter the kind, even the hardest of menial work normally left for peasants. He did extensive research on Arendelle, aiming to find out as much as he possibly could about the distant land and its rulers. He had to prove to the king that he could be responsible somehow._

_This would continue for nearly three years, Hans slowly but steadily gaining his father’s trust, if you could call it that. One day however, something happened which would turn him on a dark path…_

_It all started when his father called him into his study, with a new task for his youngest and least favorite son._

_“I have a little issue that needs to be taken care of immediately. There is a villager on the third isle. I’ve been told he has been saying rather, well, unsavory things about me. I can’t have my own people talking behind my back. It isn’t good politics. I would like you to go and speak to him.” He said without emotion, not even bothering to look at Hans._

_‘Yes, Father.’ Hans bowed. ‘And if he disobeys?’_

_The king raised an eyebrow. ‘Then I expect you to_ make _him listen.’_

_When they got there, as Hans predicted, the plump man was caught directly in the act. After he refused to see sense, Hans’ men took him to the town square, announcing a public whipping, following the king’s orders to the letter._

_Hans turned his attention back to the villager, who was tied up and cowering in front of him. He had a bullwhip in hand. As the leader of the party, it was only natural for him to carry out the punishment._

_Hans wished the villager would realise the error of his ways and apologise. Then they wouldn’t be in this situation! Ultimately, he despised violence. It was for bullies and imbeciles, like his obnoxious siblings. And if there was one thing he was determined to do in life, it was to_ not _be like them._

_However, noticing the townspeople whispering and murmuring around him, he realised he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Backing out now would only send the wrong message, and his father would never let him hear the end of it._

_Hans gulped nervously. Could he do it? Could he really betray his nature for a potentially fruitless quest? Was he really going to stoop down to his brothers’ level?_

_He thought of all the work he’d put in over the past few years. He thought of the reclusive princess who had yet to find a suitor. He thought of his only chance to turn his life around, to escape the living hell that was his home._

_Hans let the whip crack down, and screams of agony filled the air._

_The vision warped into the Arendellian docks, which Lilliana recognised on sight. Hans, on horseback, was observing someone from afar — an elaborately dressed, golden-haired girl dancing around, enjoying her freedom. It was Anna, but nearly three decades younger._

So this is the princess Elsa I need to meet? _Hans thought sceptically._ Every paper I read said she was a recluse! _Still, although she appeared to be quite clumsy, from the way she interacted with the local commoners, she seemed nice enough. And with her big lively eyes and prominent features, she was quite pretty as well._

 _If this was the girl he had to woo and wed, frankly Hans could think of worse. He remembered his brothers’ girlfriends and wives back home and shuddered._ Much worse.

_Now he just needed to figure out how to approach her, and make a good impression. Surely, he couldn’t just swoop in and save her, like a dashing hero in a fairy tale… or could he? After all, the princess was rather… awkward in her movements._

_Waiting for Anna to turn her back to him, he nudged his horse in a silent command. The brown mare began to approach her, slowly increasing in speed. One moment the princess was prancing around, completely unaware of her surroundings, the next —_

_‘OOF!’ She shouted as she swung around and bumped into the stallion. Reeling backwards from the impact, the princess toppled over into a small rowboat, and as she fell over the boat swayed precariously, falling towards the water —_

_Until Hans’ horse stepped firmly onto the front of the boat, balancing it perfectly. He stretched an arm out to pull her up, and when their eyes met, hers were wide with surprise, but more importantly, a whole lot of interest. She was completely taken in by his ‘heroics’. Success!_

_‘I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?’ He asked in a concerned tone._

_‘I’m f-fine.’ She stuttered, hyperventilating. ‘I’m great, actually. I’m Anna. Princess Anna of Arendelle.’_

What the hell? I got the wrong princess! _Hans thought morbidly. Too late to turn back now._

_‘Prince Hans of the Southern Isles,’ he introduced himself, struggling to maintain his smile._

_The image flickered yet again, and Hans was shovelling a huge pile of manure, cursing rapidly as he went. His hands, once with the flawlessness of a professional pianist, were now scarred and wrinkled from decades of intense labour._

_Ever since his attempt to usurp the throne of Arendelle, he had been sent back to the Southern Isles in disgrace, the king personally sentencing him to a life of slavery and servitude. ‘You’ve disappointed me for the last time,’ Hans remembered him saying._

_Suddenly, he heard clapping behind him. As he expected, it was his older brother Caleb, made the new king after their father’s death. He’d come with his entourage of guards to taunt his younger brother._

_Hans sighed. There used to be visits he could actually look forward to, mostly from his third-oldest brother Lars, who was the only one in the family with a conscience. An avid historian, Lars would tell Hans stories about the outside world, and he was the only one who sympathised with him. Unfortunately, he died of the flu, which devastated Hans._

_‘Hello, brother,’ Caleb teased. ‘Hard at work today, aren’t you?’ His men laughed along with him, looking at Hans in contempt._

_For some reason, this annoyed him more than any of his other taunts. News of Lars’ death had just reached Hans, and he was incredibly volatile._ One more word, Caleb. One more word… _Hans’ attention was attracted to the sword at Caleb’s waist._

_‘You look great, Hans. Better than you’ve ever been! I think this job really suits him, don’t you think?’ Caleb continued, smirking cruelly. ‘In fact, it suits you so well Hans, I think you can —’_

_Suddenly, Hans rushed over to his brother’s side, unsheathed the sword in a fluid movement, and grabbed Caleb by the neck, pointing the sword at his chin. Caleb struggled against Hans’ iron grip, but couldn’t match his strength, and his guards shouted in alarm._

_‘Don’t even move, or your_ king _gets it!’ Hans warned, flinging his blade at the men. ‘Now MOVE ASIDE!’_

 _He stepped out of the stables, Caleb in tow, observing his surroundings carefully. Without warning, he stabbed Caleb in the shoulder, making sure the wound only_ looked _bad, and started running for the docks. The king’s men, anxious to help their ruler, didn’t give pursuit._

_Hans was on autopilot, bursting with speed, unaware that there were no pursuers behind him. Luckily, hesaw a trading vessel that was about to set sail, and he bolted for the gangplank, leaping onboard at the very last second._

_He rested for a few moments, noticing the Arendellian flag hoisted on top of the ship, and he chuckled hysterically. Oh, the irony._

The vision abruptly changed to the inner bowels of Ahtohallan, the ice gleaming with an eerie purple glow. Lilliana sensed this wasn’t a memory anymore. This was something else. Something far more sinister.

_‘So you’ve overcome Hans Westergaard’s trap. Interesting. Come for me, my kin — if you dare. Believe me… you have no idea what you’re getting into. Be. Afraid.’ A voice boomed in the air, overcoming her other senses, filling her mind with the sensation of pain…_

_And everything went black._


	13. Chapter 13

Ch.12

Lilliana resurfaced, the sheer sorrow of the memories sobering her. What unsettled her even more was that she was yanked out of the vision forcibly. That had never happened before.

‘Did you find anything?’ Elsa asked anxiously.

‘I… I got kicked out right before I got to the good part,’ Lilliana replied, shaking her head. ‘One thing’s for sure though: we need to get there quick.’

‘Yes,’ Anna agreed. ‘We can take Nokk and — ‘

‘No, Anna,’ Elsa interrupted. ‘I’m the fifth spirit. It’s my responsibility. I’ll go to Ahtohallan alone — you three get back to Arendelle.’

‘What?’ Anna said madly. ‘We promised we’d do things together! Especially in times like these! I can take care of myself, Elsa!’

Kristoff added, ‘Also, his forces kind of forced us out of the castle, so… we can’t really go back right now. It’s why we came here in the first place.’

Elsa face-palmed, sighing in exasperation.

‘Then you can stay with the Northuldra until I come back,’ she insisted. ‘I’m not letting you go one way or another.’

Anna exploded with anger, finally losing her temper. ‘Look, every time our adventures got us into danger, I was always the one to save you from a pinch! First it was the eternal winter, then it was the enchanted forest, and now this! Beginning to see a pattern here?’

‘I don’t care! Whoever the enemies are, they are more dangerous than anything we’ve ever faced!’ Elsa snapped back. ‘I can’t lose you, so for goodness sake, listen to me for once!’

Lilliana looked from one sibling to another, as though watching a tennis match, her eyes wide with surprise. She’d never seen the two argue like this before. Never.

It was Kristoff’s turn to read her mind now. ‘They just care for each other way too much,’ he said. Lilliana, being an only child, muttered, ‘Unrelatable.’

Anna breathed deeply, calming herself down. She immediately felt guilty for shouting at her sister. Elsa was just trying to protect her. ‘I’m sorry for shouting at you… but I really want to follow you. We all do.’

Looking at Anna’s determined face, Elsa sighed. ‘I can’t stay mad at you… I give up. Come with me.’ She suddenly stared at Anna straight in the eyes. ‘But promise me you won’t do anything crazy. No doing things like provoking Earth Giants, or climbing the North Mountain. Understood? None of that.’ She added in a serious tone.

‘I promise,’ Anna replied. She seemed truthful enough, but from reading her mind Lilliana knew Anna wouldn’t hesitate to renege on that promise if Elsa was even remotely in danger.

‘You may as well have killed me just now, Elsa,’ Hans groaned, regaining consciousness. ‘You two are boring me to death. Sorry this and sorry that…’

‘Should I just knock him out again?’ Kristoff asked, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

‘No need for that,’ Lilliana yawned. ‘With those chains tied around him, the only one he’ll shock is himself.’

‘The benefits of a classical education,’ Olaf mused.

‘Alright, let’s just lock up Hans and the other guards in here and go,’ Elsa said. ‘Can’t have them running loose around here.’

‘Actually, we should bring this guy along,’ Lilliana said, pointing at Hans. ‘I have a feeling he’ll come in useful.’

‘Are you sure?’ Anna asked, glaring at Hans.

‘Yes, bring me so I can stab you in the back,’ he replied sardonically.

Lilliana rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t bother with the bluff. Right now, you’re completely harmless — mind-reader, remember?’

Elsa came to a decision. ‘If Lilliana says so, then sure. We can’t afford any more delays. Olaf, release our friends and deal with the remaining guards, alright?’ She asked gently, making a flurry for Bruni. At that moment, Lilliana could see why Elsa was born to be queen — the woman was a natural leader.

‘Fine,’ Olaf said wistfully. ‘But I’d rather go with you guys.’

Elsa thought, _I want them to be as far from danger as possible. Anna may be stubborn, but at least the others aren’t as insistent._ ‘Thanks, Olaf,’ she smiled.

As Anna, Kristoff and the others escorted Hans away, Elsa pulled Lilliana aside. ‘You’re sure about this? I don’t think that’s safe.’

Lilliana shrugged. ‘There are some things I couldn’t find out mentally. Whoever’s behind this is powerful enough to deny me access to any related memories. If I can get him to tell me…’

‘Just be careful, won’t you?’ She hugged her niece. ‘Thanks for saving me, Lilliana.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ Lilliana smiled back with pride.

Before long, they were at the Dark Sea, ready to go on another adventure. At Elsa’s call, Nokk instantly materialised in front of them, and she nuzzled Elsa affectionately.

 _It’s great to see you back in one piece, Mother,_ Nokk said. _Did you give those brutes a good thrashing, Lilliana?_

‘Oh, I did,’ she replied, amused at Anna and Kristoff’s confused looks.

Nokk smiled savagely. _Good._

‘Can you take us to Ahtohallan?’ Elsa asked, patting Nokk’s mane. ‘I know you’re weakened as well, so…’

 _Don’t worry Mother,_ Nokk reassured. _I might have to go a bit slower, and some of you may have to ride behind me, but otherwise I’ll be fine!_

 _‘_ Hans and I will be right behind you,’ Lilliana said confidently.

Anna and Kristoff immediately erupted with panic. ‘Are you serious, Lilliana?’ Kristoff asked. ‘Bringing him is one thing, but that’s just tempting fate!’

Anna added, ‘You don’t know him like we do, Lily. You can’t trust him, not even for a moment!’

‘Relax, Mom and Dad,’ Lilliana raised her hands up in defense, wincing at the noise. ‘There’s something we need to know from him.’

Elsa didn’t say a word. She looked at Anna in the eyes with a firm stare, prompting her to do the next right thing — and trust her daughter.

Anna grumbled, ‘Fine! ButI’ll be watching you, mister,’ she pointed at Hans, ‘like a hawk!’ However, Hans was uncharacteristically silent, looking into the distance absentmindedly.

While Anna was talking, Elsa made a crystalline boat that could hold two people with room to spare. It had intricate snowflake patterns on the sides, and ropes of ice connected to Nokk. Seeing it, Anna felt a sense of deja vu.

‘Don’t you dare push me down a hill side again,’ she pursed her lips in mock annoyance. ‘I’m still mad about that, you know!’

Elsa couldn’t help but laugh. ‘I’ll try not to. No guarantees though.’

They finally set off on their perilous journey, with Anna, Kristoff and Elsa riding Nokk, while Lilliana and Hans were tugged behind by boat. Lilliana glanced at the three riders in front, then said briskly to Hans, ‘Right, spill. Who planned all this? Who’s going to kill me?’

Hans still didn’t respond, which irritated Lilliana more than any insult or retort.

‘Look, if you’re going to give me the silent treatment, then I’ll have no choice but to do it the hard way,’ Lilliana opened her palms threateningly.

The former prince smiled humourlessly at her. ‘Why don’t you?’

‘Because unlike you, I actually use my magic responsibly!’ Lilliana said exasperatedly. ‘I respect other people’s privacy!’

‘One way or another, I’m certainly not going to help you,’ Hans replied, glaring at the telekinetic fiercely.

Suddenly, Lilliana had a flash of inspiration. ‘Of course you can’t be of any help. Your memories were tampered with! It’s not that you don’t want to help, you simply can’t! I bet you don’t even remember what your partners in crime look like.’

‘I remember everything they ordered me to do,’ Hans said thoughtfully. ‘And yet their faces are nothing but spectres and shadows… I can’t see them at all. You did it, didn’t you? You tampered with my mind!’ he pointed at her accusingly.

Lilliana shook her head adamantly. ‘I can’t do that!’ I can read minds, no more. Face it — your companions, whoever they are, had you under their spell. Your memories are all jumbled up, you don’t even know how to feel!’

Faced with the truth, Hans had no choice but to accept it. At the mention of his feelings, he sighed. ‘So they just wanted to control me, hmm? Just like everyone I’ve ever known…’ The man looked at Lilliana. ‘Did your mother ever tell you about me?’

‘Well…’ She squirmed. ‘You did… in a non-verbal way, of course.’

‘So much for respecting privacy,’ Hans deadpanned. ‘You keep on demonising me, with good reason I suppose, but none of you ever bothered to hear my side of the story!’

‘What’s there to it?’ Lilliana jabbed back. ‘You had shit tons of siblings, you were faced with the opportunity of a lifetime and got greedy, but my mother, dad and aunt stopped you. The end.’

‘You’re lucky to have a family that actually _cares_ about you,’ Hans said. ‘From the moment I was born, I was destined to be an outcast. A throwaway.

‘My childhood was dominated by bullying and ridicule; growing up, quite literally, in the shadow of twelve brothers was a nightmare, and good old Dad wasn’t exactly helpful. In fact, he encouraged them to do so.’

‘That’s horrible,’ Lilliana whispered, her body churning up and down with the waves. ‘No one deserves to be treated that way.’

‘Indeed,’ he sighed. ‘So when the news of Elsa’s coronation reached the Southern Isles, I knew it was my last chance to escape my personal hell. Of course, once I got there, complications arose immediately…’

‘You thought my mom was Elsa,’ Lilliana laughed.

‘And then came the eternal winter incident,’ he continued. ‘Suddenly, she just runs off to find her sister, leaving the entire kingdom in my hands! It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

‘There came my dilemma. I knew Anna probably wouldn’t survive the trip to the North Mountain; that left me with none other than Elsa herself, who disliked me from the very start. The sorceress would never agree to marry me. My hopes of being the king of Arendelle were crumbling in front of my eyes. I didn’t have a choice.’

‘So you tried to kill them and take Arendelle for yourself, blah blah,’ Lilliana said, surprising Hans. ‘I’m not interested in that. I remember seeing you take care of the villagers, making sure they survived the winter — why?’ She raised an eyebrow sceptically.

Hans faced her stonily, unwilling to make eye contact. ‘A kingdom without people is useless, girl. Surely even you can see that.’

‘Really? Because I think you actually cared for their well-being,’ she replied, covering a yawn with her hand. ‘I believe you felt compassion towards them, you didn’t want them to suffer in the cold.’

‘Listen carefully. My goal was to get those villagers to support me, to trust a total outsider, nothing more!’ Hans snapped, causing his chains to rattle. Somehow, the little witch was really getting under his skin.

‘Look, all I’m trying to say is that when you’re in somebody’s mind, you see a lot of things,’ she explained. ‘That time proved there’s a good side to you, which never really got to show itself because of your brothers. But no one’s irredeemable — you don’t have to be like them!’

 _Be like them. Be like them._ The words echoed in Hans’ mind.

‘Their princess literally left the kingdom to me. Of course I’d try to take control!’ Hans took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. ‘But if you want to delude yourself, that’s fine by me.’

‘The way I see it, you cared for those people,’ Lilliana continued. ‘They relied on you, and you did your best to keep them warm and fed. You have compassion, you just got greedy! You don’t have to be _that_ person, living in the shadow of your brothers, lashing out at anyone who comes close — ‘

‘It doesn’t matter!’ The man completely lost his cool. ‘I-I still hate Elsa and Anna with every fibre of my being, and I’d kill them if I had the chance, girl!’

At this, Lilliana just yawned calmly. ‘Who’s deluding himself now? I lied to Mom and Dad. I know you can still use your powers through those bonds. Yes, you’d give yourself a nasty shock, but you could have murdered me ten times over by now — if I’d let you, of course.

‘I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that you’re important to this whole thing. Something in Elsa’s vision. That’s why I brought you here.’ She added with a serious, commanding tone, ‘Think about what I said.’

Hans was flabbergasted, utterly defeated. He struggled to retort. ‘I-You — ‘

‘Think,’ she commanded again. ‘I haven’t slept in twenty hours; I’m taking a nap. You two will watch over me, won’t you?’ she asked Gale and Bruni, moving into a more comfortable position. _No need for that, really. Mom’s been watching us the entire time,_ she thought amusedly as she let the blackness of sleep overcome her.

Lilliana woke up to someone shaking her.

‘Wake up, Lilliana,’ Anna whispered. ‘We’re here.’

She looked up to see a glacier as tall as a mountain, its perfect, radiant surface shining with the colours of the northern lights; shimmering green at times, glowing purple the next, as though the ice had a life of its own. With a slight mist surrounding it, the glacier appeared to have an aurora veil, adding to its mystery. The doorway in the middle, illuminated by the reflected light, seemed inviting in contrast, eager to sing its songs to all those who hear. Most importantly, it radiated a strong, intense mystical energy that overpowered even that of Elsa’s, and Lilliana knew instinctively she was facing the place where all magic originated.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she gave a stunned whisper. Even Hans couldn’t resist looking, absolutely enraptured by Ahtohallan’s majestic, timeless beauty.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced the air. Nokk, Gale and Bruni started to flail wildly, while Lilliana covered her ears in an attempt to protect herself. Through the pain, she noticed that Elsa and Hans — wait, Hans? They were doing the same, while Anna and Kristoff seemed completely unaffected. The two rushed to Lilliana and Elsa’s sides in concern.

‘What’s wrong? Are you alright?’ Anna asked worriedly.

‘Ahtohallan… is in grave peril,’ Elsa panted. ‘We need to help it, it’s crying for help!’

‘If someone were here to record our adventures, Ahtohallan’s Peril would be a fantastic title,’ Lilliana joked, pretending to be fine. _T-totally!_ Bruni replied, while Gale just whisked around her head, concerned she’d gone loony again.

‘If you two are feeling better, we should go in,’ Kristoff suggested. ‘As for you,’ he added, gesturing at Hans, ‘Stay here and —’

‘I have another proposition,’ Their captive said. ‘I’m coming along.’

‘No way,’ Anna reacted. ‘You were literally just trying to kill us a few hours ago!’

‘Be that as it may, once you’re gone there’s nothing to stop me from alerting everyone here,’ Hans grinned smugly. ‘So bringing me is definitely in your best interest.’

‘You—’

‘We don’t have time for this,’ Elsa said, squeezing Anna’s hand, getting her sister to calm down. ‘Just keep an eye on him, alright?’

With that, they started to go in one by one, Anna, Kristoff and Lilliana observing their surroundings curiously, while Hans eyed them with casual interest. Elsa led the way, raising her hands in a defensive pose, ice beams at the ready. The lack of opposition was unsettling her greatly.

‘Follow me,’ she whispered. Faced with two paths stretching to the left and right, Elsa made no hesitation in picking the left one, while Lilliana hurried after her, nudging Hans forward with her powers.

Just as Anna and Kristoff were about to do the same, Gale tackled them out of the way with every bit of power he had, as the roof of the cavern crumbled abruptly in front of them.

‘Lilliana, no!’ Anna ignored the falling pieces of ice, trying to get back to her daughter’s side, but Kristoff held her back.

‘Don’t go, Anna!’ he shouted. ‘You getting hurt won’t help anyone!’ From the other side, Elsa shot a few ice blasts at the wreckage, but to no avail.

‘Mom! Dad! Don’t worry, I’m coming!’ Lilliana flicked her wrists to move the rubble out of the way —

And the ground crumbled underneath their feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought Hans was kind of misunderstood… Hopefully his side of the story will make them think differently. I’ll try to update more frequently, but no guarantees :P Next chapter will have the big villain reveal! The mysterious Illuminati awaits.


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